The Magic Spell

The headlights of the car flashed on the board “Siderok”, as Sahil stopped the car in the parking lot of a restaurant. 

He walked to the passenger side of the car, and gave a hand to Nadia as she came out. He wanted to make each moment of her day memorable!

The host guided them inside the Siderok restaurant, and asked them to take a seat on the reserved table. 

Sahil had arranged a candle lit dinner at a Thai restaurant, as it was their favourite cuisine. At their reserved corner of the place, Nadia stared at the floral decoration, which was of all exotic flowers. She was stunned to see the ambience, especially as it was all done just  for her.

She gave a shy smile as she sat opposite him. Sahil slipped a small box in front of her. Keeping the bouquet next to her seat, she opened the present, to find a diamond ring inside!

It was Nadia’s first birthday after their marriage. Sahil was a very loving husband, and would often surprise Nadia with different affectionate gestures.

She smiled as she remembered the first time she met him!

Nadia worked in his firm, and it had been six years now since they knew each other. He was a well established architect, and a proud owner of a reputed architectural firm. 

Nadia was appointed by the HR manager and her first meeting with Sahil had left a great impact on him. She was a dedicated employee, and her talent and sincerity at work had won his heart. 

It all started at an office party around a year back. He had a beautiful hall in his house, where he usually kept such gatherings. Everyone was having casual soft drinks, when Sahil requested the DJ to change the party music to some soft romantic one. He then bent on his knees in front of Nadia, which diverted everyone’s eyes on them. With soft music in the background, he gave a red rose to her and said those magical words, “Will you marry me, Nadia?”

She was awestruck, as she didn’t expect anything like this to happen. As she had a soft crush on him from the very beginning, she smiled and said yes. In her world, he was the most eligible bachelor one could think of!So she couldn’t deny his proposal.

He had later opened the secret to her, that the party was specially organised for this purpose. 

Soon thereafter they got married. 

The clapping sound from the crowd came fresh in her mind. Such a splendid new beginning it was!

“Lucky me!” She blushed thinking so.

And thereafter, such special occasions lined up in her love life. Whether it was a bracelet gifted to her, for her valuable work at office, or a new car presented to her on the wedding night.

It had been eight months now, and today was her birthday.

It was a quiet and romantic evening, and he surprised her as usual with an expensive solitaire ring.He kissed her hand, and she whispered a thank you! 

The waiter came and served them starters and soup, when his phone rang. It must be some new client, he guessed. So he ignored the call as he didn’t want to spoil their romantic evening. He cut the call once...then twice...then thrice; until Nadia compelled him to take it as it could be important. She very well understood such work ethics, as she herself was an integral part of his business organisation. 

As he took her permission to be excused for a moment , she stared at the box of ring on the table. 

The words “aftah alsunduq alsihriu” suddenly came to her mind, which meant “open the magic box” in Arabic. 

She was five years old, when one day she came running home crying to her mom. She had broken her favourite doll while playing in the park. And she cried the whole day. Her mom had asked to pray to God, who grants all wishes coming from the heart. 

Two days later, her dad told her to open her cupboard, and to say the magical words “aftah alsunduq alsihriu”. She giggled to hear them, but memorised it pretty soon. She was so amazed to find a beautiful doll inside, and considered those words as a magic spell indeed. 

Then receiving gifts and surprises just became part of her happy life, whenever dad told her to say those magical words! It once happened when she got a new bicycle after being teased by friends for using a rusty old bike, or when winning an inter school elocution contest; she received a wrist watch when securing merit in the board exams, or a beautiful hand bag on graduation for getting that prestigious degree!

 It was always a very special gift on varied occasions, just by saying “ aftah alsunduq alsihriu”. And there came from nowhere, those special things as expected and wished for.

Today she was giving it a thought once again; how lucky she had been to have such wonderful parents! She adored her father a lot, and the loving memories of her past made her feel cheerful. She thanked God, for how blessed she was to have such wonderful parents, and a doting husband. 

Till the last year, she had been in utmost care of her parents, and now her life was showered with the love of Sahil. How blissful her life was! What more could one ask for? 

Tears of happiness had filled her eyes, when Sahil returned back from his telephonic conversation. 

Taking back his chair to sit, he winked at her in glee and said, “it indeed proved to be a very big contract dear. Thanks a lot.”She smiled back at him.

As the waiter started serving them the main course, she requested him to get the soup reheated. He nodded and took the soup to heat again.

As the waiter went away, Sahil said, “sorry for that. You should have started it.” With a sly smile Nadia replied, “why not to make this date a little longer.”

As they adoringly looked into each other’s eyes, 

“Aftah alsunduq alsihriu” —open the magic box, Nadia repeated the words in her mind.

Those magical words surely had power! 

The power to make her happy, making her feel content, and filled with affection!

“Aftah alsunduq alsihriu” was synonymous to her father….and now to Sahil as well!

—by Tarana Fazal