Alam Joh was a poor farmer of simple nature in manners and behavior. He was residing in a far fledged village of Sokan amidst the mountainous skirts of Pir Panjal in Kashmir. Alam would earn livelihood by cultivating his lands in the village. He had rarely gone to any city at all. He loved his village and its landscapes.

Once there happened a strange incident with Alam. He was busy at works in the fields when the postman delivered him a letter. It was the year of 1995 and landline phones or cell phones were not found in the backward areas. Letters were the popular source of communication. But it was not an ordinary letter. He was told that it was an official letter from Revenue Circle of Karachi. He was astonished over it. He tore out the envelope to extract the letter. It was in English. He could read Urdu but not English. He could not conceive the matter or the purpose of the letter.

He came back home in the evening. After taking his meal, he went to his neighbor Saleem who was a teacher in the village school. He requested Saleem for reading the letter. Saleem read the letter thoroughly and then explained it to Alam Joh. He said, “There was some relative of you in Karachi who died heirless. The administration of the city summons you to reach the revenue office as an heir of the deceased. You will have to settle some matters of inheritance regarding the property of the deceased person.”

Alam became mum for a moment and then uttered, “When I will have to go there?”

Saleem read the letter again and told, “You will have to approach the revenue office within the next twenty days otherwise the government will itself take control of the property.”

He was astounded over the situation. “Who was my relative there in Karachi?” he questioned himself many times before reaching back the home.

Having lain down in his bed at home, Alam began to think over the problem of a strange relative. With a little stress on his past memories, he reached the solution at once. His late father Faizan had told him of his own brother Imran. Father once told Alam. “We were two brothers: Faizan and Imran. My brother Imran went to Karachi for job and settled there. We never met again. People coming from there relate to me of his wife and a son. Alas! Nor I could go to meet my brother and neither had he made any contact.”

The memory of his father’s tale clarified the whole mystery.

“Really he is son of my uncle, the deceased relative”, he satisfied himself.

In the coming morning, he accessed Saleem again and begged him to read the letter again for his clarification.

Saleem read the letter and told Alam, “Your relative Shujah son of Imran has died in a car accident. He was childless. The authority noticed you to reach there and settle the matter of the abandoned property.”

That clarification set well on Alam’s mind and he was now a bit happy.

“How far Karachi from here is and what are the expenses to go there?” Alam asked in a gleeful tone.   

“It takes two days to reach there and perhaps five thousands are required for a return journey of Karachi”, replied Saleem.

Five thousand was a huge amount for a poor farmer like Alam. He wondered, “Oh! It is very difficult for me to go there.”

“You can opt not to go there at all and let the administration execute their work”, said Saleem.

He couldn’t think of what to do and what not to do. He argued no further and came back home the next moment. For the whole long day he remained at home submerged in the mystery of the present situation. He was worrying for loss of the expected property in a big city. To make the matter more clear, he decided to meet some revenue expert.

Following the trails of his thoughts, he went to meet the revenue clerk Rizwan in the evening. Rizwan was a famous revenue expert in the village. Alam showed him the letter. On reading the letter well, Rizwan told him the same state of matters what Saleem had already explained to him.

“Will I have to reach Karachi in person?” inquired Alam.

“Yes, you have to go there in person otherwise you will fail to acquire the right of inheritance”, Rizwan gave a legal opinion.

“But I haven’t money to reach there,” Alam put up his trouble.

“You will have to manage it soon. You have to approach them in the given time frame”, advised Rizwan.

Alam had some cattle at home. He told his wife the entire problem. After that he set a proposal of selling a buffalo to get money for the journey to Karachi. The wife was fond of rearing the cattle so she refused to sale out her buffalo. There was no other way for Alam to obtain the required amount. He requested his wife time and again to allow him for selling the buffalo. Then with an intensive struggle of two days he won the consent of his wife. Soon he managed to put up the buffalo for sale. He got twenty thousands from that sale.

Though Alam had gathered the required money for making a journey of Karachi yet he was getting fear to go there. He was a knave villager and he was scared of the hustle and bustle in a Karachi like big city. He wanted some person as a companion. For the purpose, he again opt Rizwan to take with him as a companion.

In the evening he reached Rizwan’s home and requested him to accompany him in his journey to the Karachi.

Rizwan said, “I am much busy at the office these days. I can’t go for such a long journey with you.”

“Accept my humble request please. You can be the best companion as you also know the revenue matters well”, Alam sought his consent in unassuming tones.

Rizwan kept on denying earlier put then he got pity on Alam and got ready to go. He said, “I consolidate my office matters in two days and then I will go with you.”

Alam was glad on winning a companion for him. Now he was satisfied and happy.

Having waited for two days, Alam made a departure for Karachi in company of Rizwan. It took them two days to reach the city. It was getting dark when they came out of the station. They went to a hotel and hired a room to stay. It was quite a strange experience for Alam to see around the illuminating tall buildings and towers. They were tired of the long journey so they had dinner and then went to sleep.

In the morning, they hired a cab and reached the office mentioned in the letter. It was the office of revenue officer of the area and there they met a polite good looking revenue officer. The officer demanded national identity card of Alam who handed it over to him. He searched something in his office computer and then he opened some files. It took him about half an hour to scrutinize the record.

After gathering the necessary information, the revenue officer addressed Alam, “Are you Alam son of Faizan and cousin of Shujah son of Imran?”

“Yes sir”, replied Alam.

“You are lucky to inherit a property of about five million rupees”, the officer informed Alam joyfully.

“Is it a building of a value of five billion?” asked Rizwan.

“Yes a three storey building in the posh area of the city”, confirmed the revenue officer.

“What next we have to do?” asked Rizwan.

“Yes, I was just explain it to you”, said the revenue officer. “You go to the legal script writer and get prepare the documents that I mention on this paper.”

He handed them a paper and they stood up to go. As they were leaving the office, the revenue officer called them back and handed them a blank revenue deposit slip.

With that he instructed, “You go to the bank and deposit forty thousand rupees as property transfer tax.”

Listening to the case of money deposit, Alam became sad. He got nearer to the revenue officer and said, “Sir, I am a poor man. I can’t deposit such a huge amount.”

“What else I do?” replied the revenue officer. “It is a legal matter. You will certainly have to deposit this amount before transferring of the property in your name. It is a government procedure and you can’t avoid it.”

Having heard those clear remarks of the officer, Alam walked out of the office and Rizwan followed him. They had no money to deposit and also they could think of no borrowing source at a far place from heir home. It was a matter of grief among the specs of happiness for Alam.

In the evening, they relate their problem to the hotel manager. He thought a little and then said, “You will have to hire the building after getting its possession.”

“Of course”, Rizwan exclaimed abruptly. “We will let it to any company or agency on a reasonable amount of rent.”

“Then listen to me carefully”, stressed the manager. “A hiring agent is my friend. I send you to him. “He will lend you the required money only on the condition that you will sign a contract of hiring with him.”

It was a good option for Alam to borrow money. They met Suleman, the owner of Orient Hiring Agency. He was a gentleman and dealt them in a polite manner. First of all he heard the whole story of Alam and then he proposed a contract, “You will have to write me an affidavit to rent out your building through my agency. I will lend you forty thousands in advance and I will get it back from the rent receipts.”

After a pause, he spoke, “We will sign a detail contract when the building will ultimately be transferred in your name.”

They agreed upon the proposal of Suleman. Then he gave them the money and they deposited the property transfer tax in the bank. After that they got prepared the other required documents. With in the next two days, Alam became owner of a large building in the main area of the city. It was a great pleasure for him.

They visited the building in company of Suleman and some revenue officials. It was a splendid building with twenty rooms in a three storey structure. Suleman estimated a rent of thirty thousands per month and Alam signed a permanent contract with his agency.

After finishing their task, they returned home. Alam was feeling himself high in air in the flush of joys. He had gotten a property of his dreams in the real world. It was really an enormous blessing in disguise for him.

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