guftgu-

adulteration is a crime, that not only pollutes and poisons food , air and water but medicines and is a serious matter of concern for life and death , the quality of life is diluted , each one has to suffer including those who defend adulteration,

august pakeeza anchal--

this edition hopefully brings as much joy to the reader community that adores reading short stories and novels in Urdu by rising and established Urdu writers, a blessing is always welcome , as long as one enjoys life it is a celebration till the point when celebration ends, one must remember others not equal to them in life , sharing as much as possible with the deprived, praying for better future celebrations in life

from previous--

this was funny , how could he carry an old man on his shoulders , this would embarrass him, if someone known to him saw him carry an old man like this he would become a laughing stock, but the old man dragged himself , caught his leg, climbed up his shoulder, his grip was so unbelievably strong , like an octopus he wrapped his limbs around him so he could not throw him --

from previous--

the old man coaxed him to help him cross the road and take him to the hotel across the road, the young man happily accepted this tas of kindness, this would give him satisfaction and bring good name , make him popular, hatim tai was on his mind, so this was a chance to prove it , he held the old man"s hand but the old man wanted him to carry him on his shoulders and put him on the bench in the hotel to have tea

Bojh--

he was a young and handsome man about to cross the road when he happened to spot a feeble old ma asking for help, because the previous night he had spent reading about hatim tai and his good kind works he was bitten by the virus of hatim tai and gave the old man a hundred rupee note that the old man refused to accept, he was not a beggar who wanted money, he was a helpless old man who wanted his help

from previous--

it was a full moon night, she had accepted to live with her parents, surprising her mother, who handed her an old night gown, from where she sat she could see the stairs leading up to heaven , the spot was famous and popular amongst the tourists who arrived in throngs to visit it, she slipped her hand in the night gown pocket and found a necklace of rare mysterious pearls that belonged to her dead twin, what awesome pearls they were

Khooni Motii--

amazing it was that the twins were absolutely stunning, one became a model the other a deep sea pearl hunter, their names also were meaningful, one"s name meant precious pearl, the other"s sea shore maiden, one of them hunted pearls so rare that were displayed by the other till one day the model was killed and the survivor got a deep scar on her cheek, a mystery she must solve herself

hijr--

-some  nights  spent  thus  in your  separation

-no  heart  pain yet  they  were  sleepless nights

.

.

----world  will stamp  your  life  of  separation from joy

----be  silent  on the  ardent  love  we  have  for  one  another
.
.


--when  does  the  mood  descend  on abandoned  houses
--questions  me  the  night  of  separation  after  you  are  gone.
.
.
---night  of  separation  and  lamp  burning  with  desire 
--becomes a  gathering  of  presence and  solitude  of  lonesomeness

from previous--

manzoor  filled  hukka  for  sadaq  malik  who  enjoyed  listening  to  his  own praises  from others , specially  manzoor  who  knew  how  to  please  him, that  night  all  the  family  left  to  attend  a  marriage  function, kalshom was  a  prisoner  and  treated  like  slave, manzoor  helped  her  to  freedom, calling  up  alyas  her  brother    when they  reached  the  outskirts  of the  village  boundaries, when  basharat  returned  he  saw  his  wife  missing, a  drum  and  a  rope  near  the  window suggesting  she  had  run away

from previous--

malik  Khalil  sent  his  daughter  kalshom"s marriage  proposal  to  the  next  village  for  basharat  , son  of  malik sadaq, notoriously  wealthy, property  and  lands  he  could  not  spend  in his  whole  life  time  but  his  unending  well of  greed  kept  him busy  using   methods   to  obtain  others  lands , he  kept  his  sons  uneducated , illiterate  and  primitive  savages , so  basharat  and  kalshom  were  married

from previous--

the  sheriff  found  the  gun   wiped  clean  off  the  finger  prints  ,  hiking  shoes  in the  shed  of  jim,   first  jim was  made  to  walk  in the  shoes  on the  wet  soil after  the  night  long  rain, then  carter, the  shoes  made  the  same  sized  print  but  jim was  heavier  than the  sheriff  and  his  shoe prints      sunk  deep, but  carter  a  light  weight  could  easily  replicate   surface  prints  that  matched  the  killers

Naqsh e pa--

Tyson was  found  dead,   bullet  shot  , the  sheriff  was  investigating  the  case, it  was  known  to  the   whole  town  that  the  three of  them  -jim-- the  garage  owner,   carter  -the night  club owner  and  Tyson  were  rivals, all  the  three  were  wooing  the  same  woman--judy

from previous--

adil  found  ten  days  were  not  enough  time  to  make  preparations  , but  he  was  satisfied    that  he  could  still  manage  , he  shared  his  opinion  with  izzat  unaware  of  her  feelings, that he  was hurting  her,  he  was  so  happy  for  mashal, who  had  never  complained  how  life  had  treated  her  since  she  was  small, never  had  shown  her  losses  to  bashri  and  him, he  was  so   grateful  for  the  improvement  in her  life

from previous--

atif  was  called, who  was stunned  to  his  family  driver  sitting  there in the  police  station, adnan  asked  him if  he  had  used  their  driver  Nawaz"s brother"s  sim  to  call  the  dead  aiza, if  he  told  the  truth  he  will not  be  sent  to  the  lock  up, atif  confessed  he  had  seen  the  driver  using  the  sim  , he  took it  out  when nobody  watched, called  aiza  to  give  her  a  mock  threat, because  he  had  seen her  ditching  him and suhail, spending  time  with  someone  else,   ten years  her  elder  and  being  together  most  of  the  time, someone  he  did  not  know,

from previous--

adnan  questions  the  driver  Nawaz  about  the  address  and  the  family  where  he  was  employed  as  a  driver, checking  the  address  to  be  correct  , matching  with  the  information he  already  had  in the  file , he  listened  as  the  family  details  were  shared, the  joint  family  consisted  of  the  old  couple  and  their  three  sons  and their  children, the  names  of  the  sons  were azhr, nasir  and  atif

continued from story--

adnan  was  the  investigating  officer  , he  checked  the  cell phone  of  aiza  , atif  suhail  claimed  they  were  all  together  in Lahore  university  and  still  going  together, but  an anonymous  number  registered  as  the  final  call on her  cell  was  found  out, the  sim belonged  to one  aslam, whose  brother  Nawaz   a  driver  by  profession carried  the  sim  in his  wallet  using  it  when needed  then  putting  it  back  in the  wallet

from previous--

junais  sat  nervously  shivering    from cold, he  was  accepted  as  the  guest  of the  prisoner   a  big  shot  in the  village  , the  jeep  drove  off  heading  towards  their  destination  ending  at  the  haweli , the  whole  village  slept  silently  , tired  workers, honest  living  and  hard  work  is  satisfying  to  the  innocent  people, who  do  not  bother  to  check  what  time  the  jeep  returned  with  the  powerful men , junaid  was  invited  into  the  haweli  , announced    to  be  treated  as  a  special  guest  of  the  man  wrapped  in the  sheet

Zanjeer continued--

junaid  saw  the  man  wrapped  in a  sheet  emerge  from the  dark  corner, he  began  questioning  junaid  , junaid  turned  to  ask  him who  was  he  doing  what  hiding  there, the  man  was  on the  run  escaped  from his  prison  cell, his  jeep  with  his  men had  helped  him  so  far, but  the  vehicle  broke  down  , it  was  taken  some  four  kilometers  away  for  repair   tied  behind  a  horse  cart, junaid  hesitates  to  share  his  own information  but  finally  tells  him his  name  was  junaid  , but  their  stories  were  so  long  they  would  later  at  leisure  speak  about  them

continued--

washiq  believed women  who  laughed  loud, were   bold, pari  and  he  were  standing  so  close  to , their  breathes  brushing  warmth   on their  skin, he   thought  anyone  entering  into  the  scene  would  not  trust  him, his  intentions  would  be  tested, he  turned  and  slapped  hard  on pari"s  face, she  was  stunned,  hurt  not  from the   slap  on her  face  but  by  that  stranger  look of  the  man  washiq  standing  so  close  to  her

from previous--

within the  hour  the  two--suhail and  atif  were  in the  investigating  room,  adnan  asked  how  they  happened  to  know  aiza, atif  and  suhail  were  stunned  , aiza  was  dead,  they  were  in Lahore  university  together, then  they  were  transferred  to  this  city  where  they  again coincidently  met   aiza

page 267--

adnan  opened  the  pouch  in which  aiza"s  personal cell phone  was  numbered,  he  began  to  check  and  search  for  contacts,  suhail  and  atif  and  one  anonymous  last  call alerted  him, within minutes  he  sent  for  the  two, their  love  messages  were  displayed  on the  small screen,  anonymous  call  also  he  had  to  find  out

from previous--

junaid  survived  the  fall, his  whole  body  was  hurting, paining  but  he  had  to  get  help, who  would  help him in that  god  forsaken place, he  turned  the  torch on his  cell, looked  around, he  was  in the  middle  of  nowhere, if  he  called  the  police  for  help  his  enemy  could  get  him,  he  had  to  help  himself  out  of  there  on his  own

Zanjeer--

seher  bano  suddenly  jumped  up  onto  her  feet  to  pull  the  chain, the  train  was  running  fast, she  tugged  and  tugged  but  the  chain was  not  working , as  the  others  looked  at  her, she  sat  down  back  helpless, junaid  was  thrown out  of  the  moving  train

, the  distance   increased  as  the  train  sped  off 

page 309--

masharab  knew  that   time  heals  all  wounds,  there  is  antidote to  all  wounds  but  the  stigma  on her  was  to  stick  for  life,  romail  had  tarred  her  life  , her  spirit  was  crushed, there  was  no hope  of  it  ever  getting  healed, she  was  left  by him  as  he  left  for  London  for  life, damaging  her  emotionally  forever