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Hajj – Day 02

we woke up at 11:30 today. we means me and skid. washed and then had breakfast. then went out to search for a shop, i.e. baqqala. it took us atleast 30 minutes to reach one. then bought Pepsis and some snacks. another 30 minutes took us to reach back home. then we started reading stories. i read The Adventure of the Final Problem, The Adventure of the Empty House, A Scandal in Bohemia, and The Adventure of the Three Gables. these are all Sherlock Holmes stories. Hercule Poirot is much better than him. thus, Agatha Christie is better than Sir Aurthur Conan Doyle.

skid has gone to arsalan’s house to return all his books… or novels to be exact. the time was 5:25. we pushed the car cause it won’t start otherwise. my cricket ball is lost. the one i took from the club. it was Dannay made. quite a good ball. i have nothing to do now (at 5:30). i could have played cricket but alas. the ball is nowhere to be seen.

i have no idea what i will do till skid comes back with some more novels. we will go to Meqaat tomorrow. so now i have this day to pass. and i don’t know what to do. i am now sitting outside the house on a bench of some kind with four legs. a slight breeze is flowing and i am writing. i and thrawn went to the petrol pump and bought some eatables and Urdu News. i then spent my time reading it. played darkroom and skid came back with many books. i then started reading Hound Of Death And Other Stories by Agatha Christie. i didn’t read all of them but they are good. i read The Fourth Man, The Witness for Prosecution, The Strange Case of Sir Aurthur Carmicheal, The Call of Wings, The Last Seance and SOS.

finally, i slept.

Hajj – Day 01

i had slept at 3 in the morning so i woke up after a lapse of 8 hours and 30 minutes i.e, 11:30. the hajj holidays of the school had started so thrawn and maa were at home. we have to go to makkah today to shahan baji’s home. as puppa is gone to canada since 17th, asif uncle came to help. he phoned us and said that he would come at 3:00. shahid farooqui also had to come before 3 but didn’t. we packed 2 handbags, took a huge basket of food and boarded asif uncle’s car at 3:10. ahsan came and took the America Online diskettet at 3:00. zafar bhai has gone to a friend. who this friend is no body knows. he doesn’t want to tell who it is either. we have thus locked all the doors of the house.

we were granted permission to enter Makkah from both the checkpoints. then i saw the first buildings of makkah at 4:17 (i noted the time). it took us about another 30 minutes to reach the mansion. the whole area has changed a lot. the house was surrounded by trees but now by buildings. well, we unloaded our belongngs and asif uncle went back. we then met shahana baji and aarshi uncle. then we started playing cricket. i won two matches. then we came back inside and slept till 9:00.

maa woke us up and we ate dinner. then we strolled outside. i read Sherlock Holmes. skid is going to arsalan’s house tomorrow. we will go to Haram Mosque on thursday i think. fowad gave me a whole bunch of advice and wished for my safety before we left. the house is big, real big. so is the garden behind it. we have been given a room. skid and i sleep on beds. maa and thrawn on mattresses.

it’s 12 now and i will now lie down reading The Solitary Cyclist involving Miss Violet Smith. i have already read The Dancing Men with Mr. & Mrs. Hildton Cubbit. also finished The Adventures of The Priory School.