from previous

...beyond the stars there are more  worlds 

Still there are tests of love to come 

.

.for  years this couplet is  repeated  and heard  the hidden  meaning and message in it is conveyed  clearly and can't be ignored,   education lovers become above others  by increasing their  ability and awareness  by learning,  learning  opens more opportunities and  understanding is developed,  khalud sahib  very well knew the importance of learning,  sitaron se aagey jahan aur bhi hain was  his favorite couplet , pakeeza anchal was his  dream  for  women  and on the Indian soil his  mother land he presented  a progressive  monthly magazine ever published  dedicated to the women folk  to encourage them  to take interest in reading writing  and studying more,  to enjoy  reading literature,  to develop personal  life quality,  by the grace of almighty  pakeeza anchal  became a huge success and one of the most sought after magazines  in the readers community globally,  now pakeeza anchal is branded  the best training  school,  all sincere  efforts are put in to maintain the content caliber,  interesting and useful material  is selected,  each issue is  practical  refreshing  , hopefully these urdu stories would ignite  deep interest  in the readers

Gratitude to almighty 

Thankful  

Gazala siddiqui

December

page 139

...a man returns home carrying a huge sack of colorful  shoes 

The wife asked him what were they and gotten from where 

The husband explained if she didn't know it was his first day of lecture 

.

.

Suddenly a terrible storm  came,  trees  were getting  torn out from their roots,  vehicles began banging into each other,  rooftops flew off, amidst all the chaos an absent minded professor  herded  people back together  encouraging them  to find from where to start  in this  hellish condition 

A man approached and took him aside  and gently said first of all he must go home and wear his  trousers 

.

.a man  stepped into his office singing loudly  and slapped  his boss on the face  followed by going to sit at his desk with legs on the desk  , his friend came in to tell him he was joking about his winning the lottery 

kahani khatm nahi hogi

....bauji, she said  she wasn't at all like him brave , she had no courage,  everyone said he had  lived   practically facing the challenges in life,   it was impossible for her to muster  enough courage to  fight her problems,  she always  slept on worries and woke up worried  , her name was joined with   someone  the moment she was born  and she couldn't   even   change it,  she couldn't   agree to lighten up someone's house  with   another person in mind,   she explained  her point  and asked him to   speak to  abba and amma  that she couldn't marry anyone else except sajid

She tearfully looked up at raja  Yusuf,  raja Yusuf  placed his hand on her head  , she who was  on her knees  , he too became emotional,  he  was protective and affectionate to his  younger brother's daughter,  she held a special place in his life,  alyas was his  brother from another mother,  ,  Yusuf s father had remained  after Yusuf s mother had died  but  he kept his second wife in a different house  so the children from the previous wife  don't get hurt,  definitely the  children had given him permission to  get married again on this condition 

Batul had  actually convinced her widower  father and insisted to get married before she was  married off and  there would be nobody to take care of him,  elder brother  most probably was to  take away his wife with him to multan 

khaufnak hadsa

....if there hadn't been  blood around it seemed   the woman was  participating in a race  getting ready for it, lizabel sat between the  two cupboards  on her hips with her left leg stretched and right folded in, clad in a jump suit  and tennis shoes  on the feet  that  had blood patches on them,  the blood had dried and turned  black and  scaly, her golden blonde hair caught  in a ponytail at the  back of  her  head ,  her chin   turned left wards her cheek rested  on the wooden shelf,  her eyes were shut,  the pool of blood  surrounding her had dried  and the  floor was  roughly  been wiped  in dirty patches,  her neck was slit said lawmond,  agreed pathologist   jacklin

The detective asked where  is the  rest of all the  blood disappeared 

Did someone clean up the floor 

Jacklin  said soap and water was used definitely,  whoever did it was  certainly in a great hurry,   the footprints left behind suggest  it was  merely a kid

Lawmond ordered to find out  more about the details 

page 110

....that night  as she lay down in her cot her head began spinning  like a manufacturing factory of thoughts circling around appa ji  and her condition and  things happening with her,  all the   recent events  had shaken her up, , what kind of business animosity it was, ,  this question went a step further turning into another question  and  it was  what business appa ji was doing,  who was  vadhera,  what did he want from her, , what had happened between them that he decided to finish her , bigger than this question was  what next,  was appa ji  going to maintain this deadly animosity  ,  what consequences were to follow,  what was at stake,  she  got tired  thinking over these  happenings and  stood up out of her bed

She wanted to see  appa ji before going to bed,  perhaps she had regained her consciousness,  there were four more rooms besides the  guest room and dining room,  appa ji was in one of the  four rooms 

page 109

....oh yes,  she usually  travels by train like this,  the purpose is to  reach out to help the  destitute girls in need,  she took a deep breath,, now that  she was there with her she wanted to share something with her because she  had been truthful with her so she also ought to know more about her, that  she was childless and had no blood relative  anywhere  anymore,  she had  social contacts and  very well maintained relationships  she knew how to get along  , she  was certain  the other was curious why she was taking so much interest in her, 

Why

Because she reminded her of her days of youth, like her she also was left all alone overnight  after her parents died in an accident 

page 104

....appi whatever you may say or do  now this wedding won't happen,  these were sabin s words like an explosion,  she felt  all was destroyed and  smoke surrounded   and spread around her,  she gave a look at sabin,  his tone was absolutely defeated,  he was broken  shattered    sorrowful  and  lost and regretting,  for two weeks he had been   carrying  heavy emotional load on his mind and heart,  only he knew  how heavy his spirit felt,  just after they were married  sadya told him  she had a love affair and was in relationship with him,  his voice  sunk with  loads of exhaustion  and  lifeless,  she was about to  fall down dead hearing him out 

Appi was the  main  matchmaker in this marriage,   sabin s fiance sadta s mother  had been appi s teacher,  she was   their  family friend  and very close the reason nobody bothered to check their past  affairs before marriage as is customarily done in arranged marriages,  theirs were quick engagement and instant marriage two weeks ago  , some time was given before the rukhsati,  there was still ten days for the rukhsati  but this information was  suicidal to the marriage 

page 107

....she couldn't believe her eyes and ears, how easily she had  come out of impossible situation,  the stories she had  heard about  police stations,  lock ups and investigations,  she was  terribly  frightening  in her  narratives,  with all her suspicions  she felt  relieved and fell down on her knees thankfully 8n prayer,  she was emerged clean of all  the charges, 

Appa ji  moved forward  seeing her falling down on her knees,  then she stopped  and asked her to show  all her gratitude to almighty at home 

By the time appa ji  brought her car around the police station gate  she waited   her heart sinking  , doubts  8n her mind   making her unsure of herself  , something still could  stop her from leaving with appa ji,

Appa ji asked her to sit down   as  the car door was opened and she sat down beside her in the back seat,  the  drive  drove off

It was a long large luxury car, the drive was comfortable and silent,  she remained  engrossed in her  thoughts,  she was jolted out of her reverie  when the car stopped 

page 85

....listen batul, tomorrow  abba is going to gamo s  with my marriage proposal  so tell motiya to refuse  Samir that evening had  visited  batul  s to inform her of her father  s plans,  batul  s heart had stopped  beating 

Chacha might take  batul  s proposal instead of motiya  this was a matter of active debate 

Abba was helpless because chaudhary shajjah had specially instructed him to bring this proposal,  Samir had tried to convince her about his abba but she wasn't  going to believe it

Wasn't that impossible that the chaudhary and chaudhrain would  ask abba so, ,chaudhrain was very much aware of  batul  s mother was  making rounds of Samir s house for their alliance  for years,  how could the chaudhrain  even think of it, batul was agitated and began  walking up and down the  courtyard  muttering  , her mother hadn't returned yet from the haveli,  Samir sat before her  in a cot  looking very stressed 

page 96

....it was  some vehicle's headlights  that lighted up the  surroundings,   her eyes momentarily  blinded  , , this dazzling light came from the torch held  in the police man s hands standing before her,  he was the same inspector  investigating  Ahmed s murder case and  visited  parveen  s house and  restricted her to  stay put in the  locality,  surprised he enquired recognizing her what was she doing there 

She stammered she had some   work there , she became so nervous she couldn't think of anything 

do you see the fire , he pointed towards the  fort of qadir khan some blocks away  set ablaze,  now  the fire  was under control but the house was completely demolished,  he asked her what did she know about it

She knew nothing and couldn't tell him anything at all 

What about ama saidan , people say you were seen around the cemetery 

She denied having  anything to do with it,  she was found there because she was helping Zarin, she took control of her  self 

Strange,  he pointed out she was  seen  everywhere  incidents were happening  yet she wasn't aware of what was happening 

page 83

...batul felt  either she was crazy or motiya gone mad,  for past half  hour  she had been narrating  what all was happening in the haveli  and  motiya was  merely nodding  now and then  picking up the red berries with  her hand covered with her veil  stuffing her mouth  , the berries were  collected by ner , batul  failed to see  any traces of worries  in her eyes  or attitude  nor did she  enquire about  Mahnoor  , in fact she showed no curiosity nor interest in any one 

Perhaps  motiya thought  batul was lying about  mahnoor and Murad  got engaged  , she was absolutely  engrossed in berries,  it was irking batul, her comment made  motiya lift her head to look directly  at her  and offer her a berry  before explaining   that Murad had promised her he would ask for her hand in marriage  so it  means he will do so,  she even saw the chaudhrain  come in her dream  so there wasn't any  need to get so worried,  motiya gave her  berries to eat,  her confidence  was so strong  batul  fumed  and became speechless 

page 75

...like a firefly  shining in the dark  his  eyes opened,  his head was heavy  aching terribly,  his entire body  stiff and painful,  usually this happened  after cricket matches  played in school  rejoicing with friends  but he remembered there wasn't any match  , safyan  was startled,  last night he had gone to bed  which was soft comfortable and warm  but now he woke up tied into a hard chair,  he  got scared,  he had matured before time  after his parents had   separated ,this new strange  situation turned him back to a small helpless boy

from previous

...every one is aware of what is lacking 8n life  but nobody is aware of  having what they have 

.

.

those think hundreds of times before committing something wrong who fear of karmic  consequences 

.

.

Just remember one thing all your life to stay sincere in prayers and relationships 

dopatta

...neighbors  long wrap  flew down into   the next door neighbors house,  they picked it up to find it was in tatters m the owner of the house went to the market,  got it dyed,  got it nicely packed  and decided to go  in the  evening   to hand it over  to the girl,  in the evening he put the long wrap in the shopper and pressed the door bell  , there stood a beautiful girl 

He said this is your   long wrap  that fell  down into his house  , she smiled and said it wasn't her long wrap but abba  s dhoti

page 58

...a young man sat on a bench in the police station,  he was clad in denims  ,  clean shaven neat, , his shoes were polished,  he had spent fifteen minutes sitting there,  his face reflected  self confidence  and contentment,  he  was called inside  some time later,  inspector zarik sat at his desk before him  with hasn  next to him,  the young man was asked to take a chair  and the first question was asked him if his name was alyas

Yes, he replied confidently he was alyas

Are you in the marketing  side 

Alyas was company manager in the sales department,  he quickly explained his position and post

There was a murder  in your family while you were away out of town,  inspector zarik watched his face closely 

He showed his  fear mixed sorrow 

Why are you scared 

Would not it be natural  to be scared with a murder in the family 

Absolutely right 

The young man alyas expressed  it was unbelievable  Sharwat was murdered  and he  shifted uncomfortably 

Who do you suspect,  if you saw anything  out of routine,  unexpected  unusual 

She was being threatened  by her first  husband's wife and son constantly,  sharwat was harassed 

Did she tell you she was  scared and harassed 

Of course,  she did,  that's why I took her to see a lawyer 

page 56

...it was a palatial house in a posh locality,  inspector  zarik reached there in plain clothes   with his  associate  hasn't in an ordinary car,  they waited after pressing the door bell  , a woman's voice rose who was there, 

He explained he was inspector zarik come to see Mrs zulfar,  his introduction  was followed  by  retreating  footsteps  , there seemed  a pause  before  approaching footsteps were heard   stopping near the  gate  and the voice  said  she was  the maid and Mrs zulfar was in mourning and unable to meet them but why did they want to meet her 

He explained it was urgent and he wouldn't take her long time,  Mrs zulfar could speak from  behind the screen,  minutes later the door opened and a thirty year old young man stood there  who looked right and left before looking at them suspiciously,  not spotting any uniformed  personnel  he concluded the visitors  lied

Inspector  introduced himself and asked if he was  zulfar Ahmed  s son

Inspector asked him his name  to which he rudely answered  who had sent him and why

Dana pani

...it was a nightmare of a night hanging heavy on Murad, he couldn't shut his eyes  even for a second,  he had for the first time seen  mother's  this aspect  that Murad wished for something and  tajur would run to get it,  then what happened  that Murad  wanted motia and  she refused  this time,  he wasn't to find  answers to this question in all the books of law piled up in his  house,  he was  a most obedient  to mother  hus unconditional  loyalty to her was unsurpassed,  he expressed it his love for her when he was asked  , tajur  would say it was  a test,  all night long he made taj mahal  from the match sticks  kept on the table,  his  dream  of the Taj mahal he would accommodate  motia,  his tajmahal   was without   any door 

page 53

....her hands trembled   she was checking her purse,  all the things she had  in there  she had  taken out,  rather throwing them out , when she found her   mobile she threw aside her empty  purse,  she turned the screen light on and her fingers stopped  as if  she had lost her mind to  go on, her lips   trembled,  her eyes moist,  her expression  highlighted  fear and worries,  she  found a number   and made the call  before waiting  to be answered  , but her call was not attended,  she tried again  but  her call was  cut off from the other side,  she began thinking what could she do now 

She remained  uncertain and dropped the idea of calling again,  she walked out of the room through the t v lounge   running towards the door to almost step onto  the dead body  lying there on the floor,  taking  courage she controlled herself and  turning  around reached the door 

Page 55

... she was  sweeping the courtyard and profusely sweating  when a soft  voice rose from the  wall of the next door neighbor  calling khala,  she turned to see  a cute innocent face  of  a girl in her early twenties emerge  from across the wall 

Salam khala 

Abida khatoon  dropped her broom  there and wiped her hands before walking towards the wall grumbling  niece if khala  at least  learn to greet properly,  she had reached the wall and she made a cover of her hand to focus on the intruder 

How many of you have come two days ago 

Me, my husband and daughter she nodded jerking her head

What's your name 

Roshni and jugnu is daughter's 

That's so interesting,  mother  is light and daughter  glow worm, it ought to be the other way around  , mother firefly and daughter  the light 

Smiled roshni , God willing  my daughter will become my light 

page 41

...you are just an evidence for me  to get both   fawad and  shezad arrested,  you are kept here so that the evidence is not destroyed before   it's produced in court,  shanza  looked at him   accusingly his tone was so venomous,  if only he had said instead  he wanted to save her  life  , he wasn't able to prove himself  a good  enemy,  something  broke inside shanza,  she lowered her head,  it was painful  and  she was hurt,  he seemed  above her in stature and she shrunk in comparison 

She was sorry,  hamad quickly  turned  to  reach out  to her  on her sentimental tone, to lift his hand to control himself  clenching his  fist,  she was tearful  pleading  , he turned away  and left  , he didn't want to be carried away by her tears 

page 38

....shanza regained her consciousness to find herself in a wooden cot, it was a room in a flat decorated in modern style,  the room was stacked with all the necessities,  she quickly got out of bed to survey herself  , she looked at the two seater sofa placed on one side,  she remembered how at gunpoint she was taken hostage at hostel gates,  in the car she felt a sharp  pain on her ear, she lost consciousness to wake up now,  she realized all her luggage was also brought to this room,  she quickly reached out for her handbag  to search for her cell phone and as she had suspected it was gone,  all the rest was inside except the phone,  in fact her expensive jewelry was also in her bag untouched 

page 53

...she stood watching her mother  through the ICU glass hole .  Covered all  over with  web of tubes , her eyes were shut,  her head   slightly rolled on one side,  she watched her in a state of shock,  she who was just a couple of hours ago expressed her strong  feelings of hatred  for her  discovered  the feeling was gone 

Amar was returning  with the important documents  of the hospital,  though abide khatoon was nowhere around 

Sami wrapped up in a sheet  sat on a chair  swaying  in her prayers  

Amar ignored her completely,  not bothering to come to her,  not uttering a word of concern  and sympathy,  not even  rebuked her, m he just stood in a corner   speaking on his mobile

She could have been standing by the  glass window for hours if she hadn't  felt  a hand pressed on her shoulder,  she turned to face abide khatoon,  her nose was red  definitely she had been crying but her face was expressionless 

page 18

...Sabina vaji, hope all is fine,  why was I called,  stepping into the room  she had asked  the junior chaudhrain, hamad was  also there,  with his oil massaged head sticky  oily resting in chaudhrain s lap, apparently he had  come for a head rub and chose to relax  with oil smeared head,  he opened his eyes to look at shanza, he  shut his eyes with a smile  that was quickly noticed by shanza,  

Chaudhrain said all was fine,  she invited her to sit down  near her,  hesitating  she sat down in one corner of the bed

Hamad wants to drive you to the town tomorrow morning 

Tomorrow...but why 

He says for shopping,  also  to sea new  house of your choice he would buy 

But what s wrong in this house , she was aware of unusual happenings  taking place in cities 

Chaudhrain also agreed,  she had already tried to talk to him but he was  adamant,  you  convince him  so he changes his mind,  all  my life is spent here in the haveli,  how will I adjust in a new environment  in old age,  , I have no association,  no memories  in the city, how would I live there,  I detest city life  but  he has declared he will  take  both shanza and chaudhrain to live in the city mansion with him 

page 37

...breakfast is almost ready,  get ready,  I will drop you to college,  she dropped the egg to the pan with a sizzling sound,  she quickly removed the   hot slices  from the tawa to place them on the plate,  then she poured the steaming tea  into the cup,  she arranged the tray,  putting the omelet between the two slices,  some ketchup  smeared over it to make a sandwich out of it

Thanks so much but I can manage by myself to the college,  I don't really need you to pick and drop me,  she shouted loudly from her room , roshni  heard her and her tone  sent a shiver down her spine,  she put the tray on a table and sat down in the sofa nearby  and with a  shadow of a smile waited for her room door to open,  roshni  suggested she could drop her  some distance away from the university,  nobody will notice you getting out of the car 

page 15

...but now  he would definitely kill her

Marry rafiq and quickly leave the haveli job then the chaudhary  won't be able to  touch you 

How  innocently naive you are sahiba baji, because rano managed to escape  he would take revenge  whether she gets married or not,   shanza  realized how weak and helpless the two of them were,  woman can never be  naturally   equal to man physically,  his strength is mightier,  legally socially  rights are given but her position remains  always lower 

Rano, flee  from the village,  go somewhere nobody knows you 

How can she go away leaving her parents and  rafiq  s family behind at chaudhary s disposal,  he would find them from anywhere,  rano was disappointed 

Shanza was  disturbed,  it all happened because of her,  but If  she hadn't  intervened  rano would be dead by now 

Don't you worry,  we'll find a way out , rano could  stay  there safe till the chaudhary   recovered 

After that..rano asked  

He will remain unwell  for sure,  Shanza  s voice  had a ring that  made rano look at her apprehensively 

page 13

.....take this sir, she said she had made  the breakfast  herself  with her own hands,  that  her mamani   used to constantly  press her to get to cooking but she never ever entered the kitchen,  she was speaking with a flare and then realizing  her  mistake stopped 

So you remember  your  mamani   and  this was the first time she had spoken of someone from her past

She was embarrassed  ,  it was just a slip of the tongue 

He was startled  she was  slowly recalling  events from her past,  perhaps  recovering  her lost memory,  he said cheerfully it was a good sign 

She  worriedly wiped her forehead  before saying she didn't remember anything  at all, she sat down beside him  , he began eating  complimenting on the  crispness of the paratha,  nobody cooked as well,  from where did she learn  such  culinary skills 

From khala Jina,  she is a great cook and makes  perfect parathas, again she had  spoken  unthinking  and revealed a name  , he  stopped  apprehensively on the name khala jina , she watched him , in his mind  a  scene flashed,  shamroz s  mother   praised her maid who was a good cook and made  perfect crispy parathas  

roshni aur jugnu

...making chewing gum bubbles she told rafya she hated her own mother the most in this world,   traveling in the bus the held on to the  handle and gave ladies seat to elderly women,  their routine was  going and coming back  swinging  standing , rafya looked at her as if she was  really mad creature  right before her, sge bent to look out of the window  to ascertain the location  and get ready for her stop

naat

...with a change if luck   life will change too

Wounded heart heals with a  caring  glance

Too unfaithful is the world  to find someone own 

Where else can one go    from your door

Mention of you keeps us going 

Careless moment  quickly  scatters the heart 

Wishing  to get oneself enveloped in your name 

Pass away with  your  loving name  in mind 

When the veil is lifted  light  fills the world 

To see heavenly  scenes before you 

Whoever sees the  charms  of beauty 

Never returns home  remains charmed forever 

page 9

....shanza was a reporter  come from the city to stay in the haveli, she was daring  and enjoyed  collecting  evidence,  she saves rano and the chaudhary and one guard were  injured badly  and rushed to the hospital  , the  two chaudhrains  senior and junior  wake up next morning  with the entire staff and family   very late, the meal tge previous night was drugged,  who could that be doing  when nothing was stolen  nor gone missing,  shanza  comes back to her room and whatsapped the pictures quickly she had taken  before  hiding the sim, memory card  and the mobile and her bag in different places  so when  the search is conducted  nothing is found on her , she makes sure not to get out of the room before others as she too had eaten the same meal,  senior chaudhrain threatens all to find out who injured her son  when none of the others were,  who ever mixed sleeping pills next time would poison them,  , one maid makes an observation  shanza wasn't   affected at all  , others were worried and surprised  and scared   almost  getting closer to each other,  shanza retaliated what should she do , was she expected to cry,  she was late and hungry and ordered a large breakfast 

suragh

..lshanza stood before the mirror  clad in something like a tight black jumper suit,  she gathered her long lush hair  and covered them with a  cap for men, she then took out a sharp dagger from her bag to slip it in her tight bkack leg pocket just under the knee on the shin with a small lady pistol,  again sge surveyed her reflection in the mirror  before turning the room light off, she craned her head out into complete silence this was the middle of the night when usually all are fast asleep,  she was certain the whole haveli slept  peacefully at that hour for she had  mixed half of the  contents of the bottle she had stolen from the hakim s place  into the dinner of the haveli,  that was sleeping pills bottle,  it was certain nobody was waking before next  day

She opened the door to close it after her before racing silently tiptoeing towards the outside wall where she  jumped up to catch the upper edge of the wall  acrobatically  crossing over on the other side,  it was one  at night,  she had  chosen this hour  carefully  so nobody  in the village  could  even accidentally  come across her 

page 12

.... mahtab would you like to belong to someone who doesn't like you,  where shahzad asked her she was absolutely  startled  , her eyes  expressed  disbelief  and shahzad was completely  serious 

Aftab doesn't like you at all,  you must  think from your mind not from your heart  what kind of  life it would be for you,  someone who is  agreeing unwillingly  to accept you,  this compromise  will become painful emotionally for you  , shagzad .eft her I surrounded in doubts,  how was it possible  Aftab didn't like his long time betrothed , but the point was what made shahzad  leave  doubts  deliberately  in her mind  though he was a  not a serious  type of a person  , uncaring   eyes showed  his desire to become wealthy overnight  , he was always calculating   new equations to fulfill his dreams of gaining immense wealth  , he remained day and night  engrossed in his schemes, he evaded  studies,  he attended college  because be was scared of ammi  shamina khatoon , he spent the  time  there  roaming about  not attending classes to return home  on time  to lock himself up in his room to  stay  with his mobile   searching for  tips  to become rich quickly