If you see a man with grey hair huffing, puffing and panting in Aunty’s Park, have no doubt he is running for a much more serious thing than life — his second honeymoon
Trouble comes in all shapes and sizes. And from the least expected of quarters. We were having breakfast on a fine wet Sunday morning to the accompanying sound of splattering raindrops on the greenery outside the window. We Karachiites do not get such romantic weather often and when we do, we start acting and thinking strangely. We lose sight of reason and no more remain pragmatic. Thoughts quite discordant to age and occasion start befuddling our minds.
She started by saying that her niece’s marriage was coming up in Islamabad and we might as well avail the occasion to go further up North and have our second honeymoon. I lost her there. I only heard her as if from a far-off place. I caught words like Kaghan, Nathiagali and Bhurban. They say the whole life of a drowning man flashes before his eyes in a second. Mine did at that very instant.
The cheese omelette stuck in my throat and I thought I would choke. She offered me a glass of water. I asked for tea.
“You’re not eating?”
“Oh, er, I am no more hungry.”
“I was saying....”
“I heard. What a splendid idea! I wonder why it did not occur to me.”
At three scores and plus, such a thought can never cross your mind. But why confess?
“But you seem so upset.”
“Actually, it was so sudden.”
Mark Twain, recalling his grandparents fondly, once said that his grandfather withered with age but as far as his granny was concerned, she was as good as new. Looking at her, I felt the full force of Twain’s observations. Not for nothing do they call females the stronger sex. I felt weak, nay weaker.
I went into a reverie and thought about the famous Hakim who fell victim to the city violence. I just don’t know why, but I wished very much he were alive. God rest his soul.
Seeing me sinking into my seat, she somehow guessed it. After decades of living together, you start reading each other’s mind. She said, “Why don’t you quit smoking and start your jogging routine? We have still four months to go.”
So now, if you see a man with grey hair huffing, puffing and panting in Aunty’s Park, be assured he is not running for his life. He is running for a much more serious thing than life — his second honeymoon!
If you see a man with grey hair huffing, puffing and panting in Aunty’s Park, have no doubt he is running for a much more serious thing than life — his second honeymoon 
