Sheen... Sharaar (Sumaira Hameed)- Story Review by Shoby

Sheen... Sharaar (Sumaira Hameed)- Story Review by Shoby

Out of three stories that I have read (till date) in Sumaira Hameed's latest story collection Khayal Yaar, this tale is perhaps the simplest of all. Sheen Sharaar is yet another Sumaira Hameed's novel that revolves around not one or two in fact many of our living social dilemmas.

Let me confess we live in a society full of hypocrisy and we the human beings are the unit of the whole totality in a society. So whenever I say we live in the hypocrite society, I openly confess we all are hypocrites in one way or another. We all cry over corruption and we are unaware of the fact that we as a nation are unfortunately corrupt. The worst part is, we do not realise the reality.

Don't you think that the little wrongs that we regularly commit are all part of the corruption in a larger canvas. Well if Alveena was habitual in looting her mother for mere some bucks, don't you really think it was corruption. The first time she dated a stranger (Asad) by bunking her school, it was corruption. They keep on meeting without letting other know and this was corruption.

One pertinent thing to mention here is the attitude of their parents. Asad's parents came with the marriage proposal for Alveena citing that they both love each other but the proposal was rejected right on the money just because of the caste differences. Now this according to me, is a serious hideous dilemma in fact a crime that we regularly observe in our society. The so called caste and self proclaimed class differential is resulting in bigger crimes especially the incidents where girls running out with their boy friends and as a result, suffering in one way or another.

Same happened with Alveena in Sheen Sharaar. She was desperately in love with Asad and just because their parents did not wanted them to get married as both of them belonged to different castes, they decided to leave their parents and ran out of their homes. For a nice six months, they lead a heavenly life in Malaysia but fortune was having some other plans.

Asad died there leaving Alveena (apparently) with no positive option or foot path to follow and she was getting indulged in one bad to another. What happens next makes the story and obviously it needs to be read in the book.

Let me clarify, to me, this is (may be) the weakest written piece of Sumaira Hameed I have ever read if we talk about the narrative part. As I stated earlier, it was a simplest of tale that was all about delivering some essential communal messages.

Honestly speaking I did not found any out of the box amazing dialogues for which Sumaira is famous. The most mediocre thing in the while story to me was the ending portion, which acted as a spoiler to me. Yes, I am not 100% satisfied with what happens in the end with Alveena as I feel some more brutal climax would have surely enhanced the overall feel of the story. Having said this, I can indeed give Sumaira the margin on her take for the ending part as we have seen the ruthless ending of Rebica earlier on in the story. 

However, the treat is on when you get to see the real Sumaira's writing prowess in a few moments:

Ishara khultey hi gaariyan tezi se guzerney lagi or in gaariyon ke neechey is ne baba, amma or Asad ko dekha.

Bura lagta hai... Bura laga bhi... magar sirf pehli baar.

Within the heart of the story, Alveena is seen having conversations with her own self just like in the story Khayal Yaar but here the difference is, this time Alveena is talking with the Nafs e Ammara part  (nafs that overwhelmingly commands a person to do sin) rather than Nafs e Lawwama (self incriminate, to self reproach). We all believe that throughout the whole life journey of a person, we are guided with two powers simultaneously.

Satan is always putting all of his efforts & strenghts in making us do wrongs. According to QURAN PAK, “(Iblees) said: ‘Because You have sent me astray, surely, I will sit in wait against them (human beings) on YOUR straight path. Then I will come to them from before them and behind them, from their right and from their left, and YOU will not find most of them as thankful ones (i.e. they will not be dutiful to You) (Sura Aaraf: 16,17).

And as ALLAH PAK wants us to walk on HIS righteous path, HE has embedded a mechanism within us that whenever we are about to commit a sin, someone from within stops us or at least struggles to halt us from doing so. Same happened in the story Sheen Sharaar as well.

No points in guessing that the story Sheen- Sharaar is a strong dose of social lessons and it stands tall when it comes to the preachy part of the story.

The best line of the whole novel that real touched my heart quotes:

Jo aap ne kiya, aap ka amal hai... ALLAH Raham kerta hai or yehi US ki sift hai.

Chup (Aymal Raza)- Fiction Review by Shoby

Chup (Aymal Raza)- Fiction Review by Shoby

First story of Aymal Raza's recently launched story collection Sooraj Ke Paar is Chup (The Silence). Let us analyse, what the story has in it for the readers.

In George Orwell's words, Each generation imagines itself to be more intelligent than the one that went before it, and wiser than the one that comes after it. Generation gap is something at truly defines the complexities in relationship between two persons. In this fast, pacey world, we usually are no more interested in taking care what our elders have to say. In fact, we categorically deny giving them due share of importance. May be this is hte reason why much of their feelings die within themselves.

Sadia, a wanna-be writer is striving so hard to construct a character sketch for an upcoming story competition but who can pay attention to this damn artistic work if someone as talkative as her Daadi was present to make a mess of everything. Her grand mother was fond of telling stories and she has had enough of this. So getting really irritated by her Daadi's long narration, she one day spoke out loud how badly she wanted her to remain silent and then Saadia found what she was searching for. Silence... But this silence was full of screams...

Scream of Silence:

Andheyara, 

Jeewan ko Sooni Raeyn Karey Hai.

Mere ander ki khamoshi

Oonchi oonchi awazon mein

Bayn karey hai

(Poet: Shahbaz Ali Naqvi)

Most of the times, we do not realise the importance of something in our life unless we are deprived of that very thing. And when it comes to living beings, it is needless to say that human beings cant live in isolation what-so-ever. They need someone who is a listener and they need someone who is their talking partner. I feel somewhere in the heart, both of them (Saadia and her grandmother) were looking for a listener cum speaker but the problem arise when quotient of one trait lead the other.

This short fiction is written in a very innocent way. Aymal has tried top kept the things pretty simple by using just two characters (ignoring a small cameo of father) in the narrative. I feel, Aymal has achieved the real objective within these three, four pages of writing, i.e. to highlight the importance of relationship.

Ehd e Sakoot (Sumaira Hameed)- Fiction Review by Shoby

Ehd e Sakoot (Sumaira Hameed)- Fiction Review by Shoby

Jane Austen said in Pride and Prejudice, “There is a stubbornness about me that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others. My courage always rises at every attempt to intimidate me.” ... And Washma was almost identical to this. Promises are never meant to be broken, especially something which one commits with his own self in all high times. Washma was under a contractual obligation and this time, her contract was with her own self. She decided to remain silent and she lived true to the words. She remained silent so much so that she became a proverb, a superlative, a synonmous to the word "silence".  Ab woh itni khamosh ho gai... Itni ke us ki ankh ke uthney or jhukney ki goyai bhi jati rahi...

Sumaira Hameed, this time becomes a lot more symbolic in the sense that every single world of this fiction was holding thousands of alternative meanings. Apparently it is a very simple tale of how sensitive is the self esteem of someone especially when it comes to the female fraternity. Washmna was demoralised by certain acts of her husband Affaaf and she reacted the way she was meant to react. Jald hi us ne dhaaga lapeta... Zewraat utaar diye... Or haath bandh ker beth gai.. Ke baba ko pegham bhijwa diya jaey... Woh usey aa ker ley jaeyn... Brutally innocent way to put up your stance. She was daringly enraged up to the prime.

Looks like Sumaira Hameed's Ehd e Sakoot was an excellent elaboration of Oscar Wilde's saying, Between men and women there is no friendship possible. There is passion, enmity, worship, love, but no friendship. Here the story started off with love & passion (love for the husband by the faithful wife and passoin for singing). Love & passion which was almost touching the term worship (Ibadat ke lafz woh kufr ke darr ki wajah se na le saki). With the passage of time, these emotions were transformed into enmity.

I feel that it is a very complex debate that who is more stubborn in their attitudes, male or females. I firmly believe in this beautiful relationship of marriage, one should never try to impose the strength of his or her tenacious. Man, by default, has that instinct of being the all in all super power of the house hold. He loves to play the dominant part always. On the other hand, it is narrated by Al-Bukhaari and Muslim from the Hadeeth of Abu Hurayrah (may Allaah be pleased with him). The Prophet MOHAMMAD (saww) said: “Treat women kindly, for woman was created from a bent rib, and the most crooked part of the rib is the top part, so treat women kindly.” 

Unfortunately all the three characters of the story (Washma, Affaf and Farusiya) were at the prime of their self esteem. Obviously, I am not discussing here that whether Washma's behaviour was valid or not and it is also needless to say that whatever Affaf has done all through the story was not less than a crime. In fact, author has also left it to the readers to make up their decisions by themselves.

Coming towards the narrative part of the story. Its now a habit of Suamiara Hameed to choose diverse yet delicate topics and she nourishes the ideas by giving all of her heart. Ehd e Sakoot can be categorised as an excellent love-hate drama with the most unpredictable ending. I don't know but overall ambience of the tale was full of sorrow & agony. See how delicately she has penned the phenomenon, 

Like always, this writing price of Sumaira Hameed was yet another road trip for me.  This time we travelled in Uzbekistan through Sumaira's words. I would love to see the flowers blooming in the crops of village and the nightingale singing in Salyam, after reading this tale. :-)

This story appealingly encompasses the behaviours of the three main characters. Affaaf, as the most ruthless, man with extreme level of self esteem (read conceit), Farusiya with the most proactive feeling of narcissism and Washma, the ever stubborn. While reading the story, Jaun sb's poetry was roaming around my mind:

Main bhi bohat ajeeb hoon

Itna ajeeb hoon ke buss

Khud ko tabah ker liya

Or malaal bhi nahi.

(Jaun Elia)

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O Positive (Atiya Khalid)- Fiction Review by Shoby

O Positive (Atiya Khalid)- Fiction Review by Shoby

O you mankind! Eat of what is on earth, Lawful (Halaal) and good (Tayyab); and do not follow the footsteps of the devil, for he is to you an avowed enemy.

(Sura e Baqarah- Ayat 168).

So it is categorically written in QURAN PAK and here ALLAH PAK is talking to the whole humanity, not only to the persons belonging to a specific religion. DO NOT eat Haraam in any case, as it will make you follow the footsteps of the eternal enemy i.e. Shetaan. 

Atiya Khalid (the emerging writer) has touched one of the most important aspect (or should I say, a dilemma) of human society in this fiction which was published in a monthly digest last year.

This materialistic world of ours is hungry for power, wealth & what not and we human beings leave no page unturned to do whatever it takes for our personal benefits and Aaqib was no different.

His father has brought him up with one loud & clear message. Never ever try to add the negative components especially the ones forbidden by ALLAH PAK in your blood, as O + has been bestowed to you, so that you can donate it to the needy ones and you should not be thankless to HIM for blessing you in such a wonderful way by maligning it with Haraam. Unfortunately, he forgets the lesson. Let me add, it is not only he, who has forgotten the true lesson, in fact we all have.

This less than 3 pages tale is a complete dose of education, where the writer has tried to kept the things very plain. Looks like the only goal of the author was to spread one big strong message without complicating the scenarios. The best thing that I found in the fiction was her very simple story telling.

She has depicted two en-masse distinctive characters and presented the contrast between them so smoothly. I am pretty sure that the author has successfully achieved what her objective was and her message was surely reached to the target audience quite clearly. 

I would surely love to read more from this writer, may be a novel or so, as I feel she has that feel in her writing which can teach you without being preachy. 

Khayal Yaar- (Story1 Review by Shoby)

Khayal Yaar- (Story 1 Review by Shoby)

First of all, let me clarify, I do not intend to reproduce the story of Khayal Yaar here. Rather I am focusing only on what the first story in this Sumaira Hameed's collectoin was all about.

Buddha said, "We are shaped by our thoughts; we become, what we think. When the mind is pure joy follows like a shadow that never leaves. She was (presumed to be) sleeping just like what John Green talks about, "I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once..." Her sleep was disjointed by none other than her very own self (her consciousness, her thoughts) and her consciousness woke her up right on the time, barring her to take the wrong move, when she was just about to decide the most invalid.

Sadham was going through an intense inner battle... A battle that can only be won by killing your own materialistic desires. Her consciousness was trying to make her aware of what she was going to do. She was all set to commit the most hideous crime for which ALLAH PAK says in QURAN PAK:

On account of this. We wrote for the children of Israel that whosoever killed a soul not to retaliate for a soul,nor for creating disorder in the land, then it is as if he had killed all mankinds. And whoso gave life to one soul,then it is as if he had given life to all mankinds. And undoubtedly, Our Messengers came to them with clearproofs then undoubtedly, many of them after that commit excess in the land. (Surah Al-Maidah Ayat 32).

They say, history repeats itself. I just want to add one more thing here. History does repeat itself but it always repeats to give you yet another chance to re-do. It put you yet again in almost the same sort of scenario which has already tested either you or someone like you, before but it depends upon you how to grab the advantage of that one specially bestowed opportunity.

Khayal Yaar is the story of Karma. It is a story of repentance which guide you to such circumstances that can either lead to self destruction or soothes you with an annunciation of a re-birth of your own self.

Sadham loved Haadi and she loved him the way R. M. Drake told, "if I lived a million lives, I would've felt a million feelings, and I still would've fallen a million times for you...: She loved him and loved him to such an extent that he became a like a pseudo-God for her and this was her fatal fault.

Aik Teri Chahat hai... Aik MERI Chahat hai. You may agree with me or not but nothing is a bigger truth than the phenomenon that whatever ALLAH likes and decides for us is the best, however at times we are unaware of the facts that are attached to what HE has decided. No doubt, HE is Al-Hakeem (The Wise).

It is said that every story has an end but in life, every end has a new beginning and Sadham began from where Zoya discontinued. Sadham was going to murder someone and she was so satisfied as according to her there was only one remedy of the plague of her life and that is to kill that one particular person, the presence of whom has shattered her completely. (I highly recommend you to read the story from the book to know, what happens then on wards...)

I am a big fan of the narrative of Ms. Sumaira Hameed. She narrates the tale in such an exceptional technique that you cant help yourself but falling for the words. Not only she played with the minimal of the characters here but also used them where they were required to look most appropriate.

Khayal Yaar runs the story parallel with the dialogue of someone with the own self. It is immensely beautiful to see how smoothly the story goes along with one backdrop self-conversation. To me, the best part of the whole conversation was when the consciousness let the person see how ugly it has turned out to be courtesy the deeds of that very person.

Full marks to Sumaira on beautiful one-liners which has certainly enhanced the overall grandeur of the story. Believe me, many of the dialogues literally made me say the Mighty word ALLAHO AKBAR many of the times and it is really impossible for me right now to choose which one was the best dialogue of the lot.

I believe the tales are always the same. What makes them interesting to read is the treatment and Sumaira Hameed stands tall as a winner in the first story of Khayal Yaar because she has told this love-hate-self realisation saga in a magical way. To me, the richness of Khayal Yaar is hiding in the sentence:

Tumhari talab ajeeb ter, tumhari chahat jawab talab...

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