Lunch times were becoming one of Arjun’s favorite pastimes. He would gobble up his subway in the first couple of minutes and then wait eagerly for Fatima to join the call. He lied to her when she first asked him if he had lunch or not. Since, he wanted her to talk as long and as comfortably as possible.

     ‘But why don’t you have lunch? You work all day long and some nights as well,’ she remarked, ‘Soon, you would start thinning and that’s not good at all for a growing man.’

      I chuckled at her words. 

     ‘You almost reminded me of my mother,’ I remarked, ‘If my biological mother was alive right now I am sure she would worry the same way.’

       Fatima’s eyes furrowed in concern. 

      ‘Your don’t have a mother anymore? I am so sorry,’ she said, her voice shaking with genuine sadness.

       ‘It’s okay. I lost both my parents when I was very young. But I was raised by relatives that treated me just like I was their own son. I never felt like love was lacking in my life because of them.’

        Fatima gave me a small sad smile. 

       For a while, she did not say anything but continued to stare at me. This happened during sentimentally charged moments in particular when she would get quiet and suddenly stop talking. In such moments, it seemed to Arjun that she was trying to communicate to him in silence only by her eyes. Her eyes would brighten up and she would simply stare at him. 

    ‘Don’t you think that we would be great friends if we had met somewhere in school and college? I have never had many female friends apart from Shreya,’ I said. Lately, I was beginning to wonder what it would have been like if we met somewhere in real life. Not just virtually. 

   Fatima’s ears pricked up at the sound of Shreya’s name.

   ‘Oh, who is Shreya? Is she your partner?’ she asked, her voice coming out small and nervous. Fatima wasn’t one to pry but I noticed that lately there was a more inquisitive side to her that I began to see which I had not noticed before. 

    I chuckled at her response.

   ‘Shreya? My partner? She is my sister. Well, a cousin sister. And yes, she is one of the closest friends I have ever had,’ I replied proudly, ‘She is one of the people I miss the most from Delhi. And yes, no partner for me yet. I am quite a solitary person these days.’ 

   I looked at Fatima’s expressions for what kind of response she would give to this information but she looked away. It seemed as if delving into such a conversation was an unfamiliar thing for her.’

   But the more she shied away the more I wanted to probe into the topic.

  ‘So, what about you? Do you have any partners yet?’ I asked her directly. Her eyes widened at my question and she averted her eyes.

   ‘None for me yet either,’ she said with a small laugh, without meeting my eyes.

  I wondered how she felt about this topic. From as far as we had talked all this while, I could tell that she was quite conservative but she was still such an enigmatic mystery to me. I could not form any opinion about her with certainty since she seemed a very layered and guarded person.

  ‘So, what about your parents? Don’t they nudge you to get married?’ I asked her, ‘You are what, twenty-five. Isn’t that the age where parents start to bug their children about getting married?’ 

   Fatima nodded.

   ‘They do ask me but I also want to make something of what I have learnt from my education all these years. Won’t it all just be a waste if I just let it all go without making anything out of it?’

   I smiled at her response. She had a good head on her shoulders. It made me admire her. I always found people like that admirable who had an independent, free spirit despite wherever they came from and the circumstances that shaped their reality.

   ‘That’s great. I am still happy to learn that more and more Pakistani parents are allowing and encouraging their daughters to study along with their sons too. Equal education to all is how we can all move towards change, right?’ 

     ‘I agree with you. It opened many doors for me. If I had not actively pursued education, I wouldn’t have learnt so much about the world around me. I was able to unlearn many things I was taught as a child that I grew out of which I wouldn’t have if I did not go out and see the world on my own.’

     I was listening to her with rapt attention. I learnt that she was the kind to ease into a conversation. She would be reserved at first and simply take in what I was saying and as I continued to ask her questions. It was satisfying to see that change. She slowly opened different layers to herself and the more I got to know her, the more intrigued I got. 

     I had wanted to ask her this question for a long time now and I thought it was finally the time to do so.

   ‘What were some of the things that you unlearned when you went out in the world?’ I asked her, ‘You know I grew up quite liberal. Even though there were people all around me that were very faithful and quite religious. I have a personal relationship with spirituality but for the most part organized religion is something that is not a net positive for society.’

   Fatima furrowed her eyebrows. 

   ‘So, you are not religious?’ she asked, an edge in her voice.

   ‘Well, that’s what some people might consider but I won’t say that. I am a man of faith. Work is my worship.’

    She grinned at my response.

  ‘Yeah, I can tell that,’ she replied, ‘And I believe that there is something sacred about that as well. When people love what they do for work, that is a form of worship too. I believe God puts barkat in their work when they do with an unparalleled love and passion.’

   ‘Barkat? What’s that?’ I asked her. The word seemed familiar but I did not know its meaning. Growing up in India I had a lot of Muslims around me. In fact, I was acquainted with them as well. Urdu originally was a language that originated in Uttar Pradesh, which is a state in India. That was why many of the words of Urdu and Arabic I came across I was pretty familiar with and even knew the meaning of.

  ‘Barkat means abundance’ she replied, ‘It means that your work will be blessed when you work sincerely at something. And I do believe Allah is blessing you.’ 

   I smiled. Sometimes the things she said were so heart-warming. I’d never come across anyone who was sweet and innocent like she was. 

  ‘Thank you, Fatima,’ I said, enunciating her name. I watched as a small pink hue appeared on her cheeks after hearing her name come from my mouth. I’d noticed this a couple of times. She would immediately get shy at hearing her name come from my mouth.

  ‘What does Fatima mean by the way?’ I ask, just as an excuse to say her name again.

  Her voice came out small and shy as she spoke again, forcing me to hide the grin that threatened to break on my face.

  ‘It means one who is pure or chaste,’ she replied, without meeting my eyes.

  I kept feeling the urge to tease her more. I could not help but really enjoy it a lot when she got shy.

  ‘So, Fatima has no prospects of marriage yet. What about a partner then? Maybe you will eventually want to marry someone you are seeing right now?’

   Fatima did not respond, only making me more curious about whether she was or wasn’t available. But I decided not to bug her anymore.

  There was a sound of distant prayers that came from her end. Fatima moved the dupatta (sash) hanging on her shoulders over her head as the prayer call began.

  ‘Is it the morning prayer?’ I asked her. I noticed that she was very punctual when it came to prayer. After almost each call they had every day, she prepared for the prayer. She was clearly very devout.

   ‘It is not the Fajar prayer. This is called Tahajjud. It is a prayer after a couple of hours into the night. It is a prayer that is not mandatory but it can be a very healing exercise that brings you closer to God,’ she replied, her eyes glowing as she listened to the prayer.

    ‘Do you have a very close connection to God?’ I asked her, ‘I barely spend two minutes thinking about God when I wake up each morning.’

    ‘I pray every day five times,’ she replied, ‘But you know there are so many people who pray five times but don’t think of God at all. So, if you think of God even for two minutes alone each day but in that moment you think about only God and nothing else. That means you might spend more time thinking about God than most people do.’

     ‘Wow,’ I replied, ‘than I might be more faithful than many other people who pray many times a day.’

      Fatima smiled.

     ‘You know what matters more than anything to God are intentions. What you intend is who you truly are. If you don’t attend harm in the world then God sees your true intentions. If you are a good person then God lives inside of you,’ she replied.

      We were both quiet for a while as I continued to stare at her.

      ‘I should get going now then. Your break must be ending soon,’ she said after a pause.

    I opened my mouth to protest but stopped in time. Talking to her had become so much fun that I did not want it to end at all. But then again, we were in completely different time zones and I could not stop her. She already stayed up almost every night to work. I watched as she ended the call. A small shy smile played on her mouth as I continued to look at her.

     ‘Goodbye,’ she said.

     ‘See you again, Fatima,’ I replied and watched as that pink hue appeared on her cheeks again.

     The screen went black and I realized that I wanted nothing more for it to brighten up again so I could see her face. Talking to Fatima had become such an essential part of my everyday life like the Sun rose every day, my specified lunch time and the morning prayer before which she ended the call each night.

 Even though she lived thousands of miles ago, I felt close to her as if I’d known her for ages.