Hyderabad, October 16, 1866
Aariz opened his eyes, and confusion overtook him. He saw the faces of two people gazing at him lovingly, but he had no idea who they were. He thought:
"What happened? Who are these people?"
Looking down at his hands, he was shocked to see that they were tiny, like those of a baby. Panic set in, and he instinctively tried to exclaim, but the sound that came out was nothing more than the cry of an infant. The woman standing over him smiled and said to the man beside her:
"Look, you scared the poor child!"
The man, who appeared to be in his late thirties, gave an awkward smile in response. The woman, still beaming, took the baby from his arms and began to soothe him. Despite her exhaustion from childbirth, she was beautiful, with an elegant and radiant face, although a little pale. She held the baby close, her joy evident in the way she cradled him, her heart full of motherly affection. Though Aariz was still confused, he instinctively gave a smile.
Seeing the baby smile, the woman's eyes lit up even more. She turned to her husband with a look that said, "See? He likes me more." The man, who was the Nizam of Hyderabad, Mir Tahniat Ali Khan, could only respond with another awkward smile, scratching the back of his head.
After playing with the baby for a while, the Nizam called the midwife over and gave her a generous sum of money. He also called for a maid, instructing her to tell the butler to distribute some money among the servants to celebrate this joyous occasion. The midwife and maid left the room, bowing respectfully as they did.
This man, Mir Tahniat Ali Khan who is also called Afzal-ud-Daulah, was 38 years old. In the original timeline, he should have been 69 by now and would have passed away three years later, in 1869. But due to some unknown butterfly effect, the course of events had changed. His wife, Shahzadi Dilawar unnisa Begum also called Amat-uz-Zehra Begum, was 36 and had just given birth to their first child, an occasion that filled her with overwhelming happiness.
In original timeline Nizam had many children and married many wives but in this timeline due to butterfly effect he only has one child and one wife. That's why he was very happy today.
After the midwife and maid left, the Nizam turned to his wife and said softly, "Thank you for your hard work, my love."
Amat-uz-Zehra Begum smiled and replied, "How can you say that? He's our child; it was no hard work at all."
The Nizam hugged his wife tenderly, then said, "By the way, what should we name him?"
"I suggest we name him Mehbub," the Nizam said.
"It sounds nice, but I think we should add 'Ali' to it. Let's call him Mehbub Ali," Sikandar Begum suggested.
"Yes, you're right. That sounds perfect. His full name shall be Mir Mahbub Ali Pasha," the Nizam agreed.
Amat-uz-Zehra Begum nodded with a content smile, gently rubbing the baby's cheek. Aariz, or rather Mahbub Ali now, was stunned by this turn of events. His face twisted from a contented smile into a frown, and he began to cry as though he wanted to protest. Before he could wail too loudly, his mother took him in her arms, intending to nurse him.
As she began to unbutton her kameez, revealing her body, Aariz's adult mind briefly resurfaced, filled with inappropriate thoughts. "Beautiful... Aariz, no, what are you thinking?" He scolded himself internally, "It's just milk. It's fine."
He took a deep breath and thought, "Such a strange experience, drinking milk again at my age... Oh no, wait, I'm a baby. This should be normal, right?"
As soon as he tasted the milk, his thoughts shifted: "Wow, this is actually good. I might have to do this more often!"
"Shameless! What are you thinking?" he reprimanded himself once again, torn between his current predicament and the remnants of his former life.
Just a few minutes later, a maid entered the room and addressed the Nizam. "Your Highness, the Ulama is waiting in the court."
The Nizam smiled at his wife, "It's time for the Azaan," he said, referring to the Islamic tradition of reciting the call to prayer into the ears of a newborn.
With a tender apology, he took the baby from his wife's arms and carried him to the court, where various ministers congratulated him on the birth of his son. He handed the child to the Ulama, who recited the Azaan in the newborn's ear, as per the Sunnah. Once the ceremony was completed, the Nizam returned to his wife's chambers.
Back in the room, the Nizam started to play with the baby again, but soon Mahbub began crying. Amat-uz-Zehra Begum woke up and noticed the commotion. Smiling affectionately, she said, "Bring him here; he must be hungry again."
The Nizam handed the child back to his wife, who began to nurse him once more. As Mahbub fed, he thought, "Oh, my sweet milk, I'm back!"
"This is way better than anything I had in my past life! And so soft..." His thoughts trailed off as he scolded himself, "Nasty thoughts again! Focus!"
He tried to make sense of his new reality. "How did I become a baby? I remember conducting that experiment with my team... And then the explosion. Did I die? But now, I'm here in some royal setting. What time period is this? Judging by their clothes, it seems to be India, but which era? I'll have to take things slow..."
Despite his confusion, his thoughts wandered to his previous life. "My parents... They must be devastated. hope they will be fine and live a good life. I hope brother will take care of them. Alas! Thinking about my parents my heart hurts. I can only pray from Allah Almighty to ease their suffering and give them patience and a new hope"
Exhaustion from all the new sensations overtook him, and soon, he drifted into sleep. Amat-uz-Zehra Begum watched over her son, smiling as she remarked to herself, "Such a little glutton."
She laid him down beside her, and as fatigue from childbirth set in, she too fell into a peaceful sleep, watching over her new child with love.