It was a tiny shop, in a small village far from the tourist trade and raucous boulevards of the city. Passed down from father to son more times than anyone in the family could recall, the family trade had always put food on the table, clothes on the children, and created a day of leisure each Sunday. However, the comfort of this moderate prosperity was slipping away, and there appeared little that could be done.
Despair or hopelessness was not of the family’s way, when days passed without an order or a visit that brought the bell above the door to life. Yet there was a day, a day much different from the others, when the bell did ring celebrating the return of Aamir the son who has been lost to the shameless desires of the city and beyond. Recognizing the dire mood of the shop, Aamir said, “Papa, I know you have not so isolated yourself to be unaware of the Internet?” (more…)