Mummy the ‘best friend’ ~ 1962.

Mummy was Zakia Aunty’s best friend at her wedding, and they’re also first cousins. She was 22 at the time, and was the fashionista of the family, loved to make clothes, wear sarees and high heels and absolutely adored jewellery, the funkier the better. Some things never change and Mummy is still the same 50 years down the road….

Zakia Aunty’s brother recently passed away in a terrible car accident on the highway to Hyderabad. Mummy went to sit with her a few days ago, came across a pile of old photographs in a plastic bag and was delighted to find pictures of herself. She was particularly pleased with this one 🙂

that's Mum there, in the saree with the sleeveless blouse, the pallu casually draped on the back of her head...

Well, I think she looks gorgeous! But then again, I may be biased 😉

This was two years before she got married to my father 🙂

The wedding took place in Hyderabad.

Zakia Aunty’s mother was my mother’s aunt, my grandmother’s sister and her name was Zehra. She had the distinction of having coloured eyes (a very unusual thing in our family) with the consequence that all her children have light-coloured eyes too. (Zakia Aunty’s are light brown.) Zehra Masi (‘masi’ = aunt ) was very fond of Mummy because Mummy was so very talented and full of great ideas and forever doing creative things. When Mummy developed asthma (around the age of 7 or 8) she was sent away to Hyderabad for a year or two so as to be in a drier climate compared to Karachi, and there she lived with Zehra Masi and her family. So when the time came for Zakia to be married, who better to be her sidekick than Khatija?

Mummy the fashionable moral suppport, as Zakia unties the 'sehra'

Both the necklaces Mummy is wearing in these pictures were brought especially for her by her father all the way from Paris. In an age when ‘real’ jewellery (i.e anything to do with gold) was ubiquitous, Mummy wore her funky Parisian jewellery with style! (Shall we take a closer look?)

Zakia was around 4 or 5 years younger than my mother (and still is, of course) so I guess she must have been impressionable enough to let Mummy make her a dress to wear at her own wedding! Mummy called her up a couple of days ago to ask her who made the dress and Zakia said ‘Why, you of course!’

(I still can’t get over it)

She even made her a veil and a little bouquet….just like in an ‘English’ wedding! 😀