Aamir

They have seen it happen before. The phone rings once and Sameer is found speeding away. His family is used to the 3-year old tradition now. Every summer vacations, Sameer’s best friend from school, Aamir, comes traipsing back from his college in New Jersey to spend the hottest days of the year with his family in Karachi. And the moment he arrives, Sameer rushes to meet him, no matter how late or early in the day it is.

If there was ever someone Sameer could call his brother, it would be Aamir. They had been friends since Sameer joined KGS in 7^th grade. They had done everything together from shaving for the first time to smoking the first cigarette. It had been Aamir’s idea to sneak into his dad’s liquor cabinet and it was Aamir who taught Sameer things that can be done with cars and are only seen in The Fast & The Furious series. Naturally, Sameer has spent half his life at Aamir’s house and is treated like a member of the family.

While it wasn’t apparent to Sameer, Aamir claims to have learned a lot from him, his family and his lifestyle. Sameer’s life had always fascinated Aamir. In fact, that was how they became friends in the first place.

It was Sameer’s third week in Grammar and he had never been this lonely in life. The lifestyle was completely foreign to him: people conversing casually in English, talking about holidays in Italy and discussing Tennis rather than Cricket. Although Sameer had never had difficulty making friends, he could not seem to make any headway in this alien world.

So when he was invited to an Aamir’s birthday celebrations at Area 51, he jumped at the opportunity to mingle with his new classmates, the OGs. What he didn’t know was that his family would be so narrow-minded about him befriending the “rich kids” that they’d forbid him from attending the birthday party. It was with a gloomy face that Sameer declined Aamir’s invitation. While the other kids ridiculed Sameer, Aamir observed him silently.

What happened the next day was not something Sameer could have ever foreseen. Aamir arrived at Sameer’s house, without warning, to convince Sameer’s parents to let him attend the birthday party. Sameer worried about what Aamir would say in school about his small abode and plain family, but he needn’t have.

Aamir introduced himself to Sameer’s parents and acted like the perfect gentleman. Not even for an instant did Aamir seem to judge Sameer’s lifestyle. On the contrary, he seemed genuinely interested and Sameer could see his parents changing their minds about rich kids. When Aamir asked them to allow Sameer to attend his birthday party, they readily agreed. Sameer was utterly perplexed but at the same time, grateful.

At the gate, Sameer only asked Aamir one thing: “Why?” In reply, he got a shrug and a smile. To this day, Sameer wonders what made Aamir come to his house.

To this day he’s glad that Aamir did.