Aurat March... Freedom or Free-Doom- Article by Shoby

Aurat March... Freedom or Free-Doom

خواتین کو جو عزت و وقار اسلام نے دیا، اس کی مثال کسی اور مذہب یا معاشرے میں نہیں ملتی... میں نے گزشتہ بلاگ میں بھی یہ بات واضح کی تھی کہ اگر دنیا نے عورت کی عزت کی معراج دیکھنی ہے تو میرے پاک رسول ص کا اپنی لاڈلی صاحبزادی کے لئے احتراماً کھڑے ہو کر استقبال کرنے ہر ہی غور کر لیں...

آج کی عورت آزادی اور حقوق کی جنگ لڑ رہی ہے... جبکہ اسلام نے چودہ صدیاں قبل عورت کو احترام کے ساتھ جتنی آزادی دی، آج کا نام نہاد لبرل طبقہ سوچ بھی نہیں سکتا... دین شناسی کی بات ہو یا دنیاداری میں معاملہ فہمی کی، سیدہ فاطمہ زہرا (س)، سیدہ خدیجتہ الکبریٰ (س)، سیدہ زینب عالیہ (س) تاریخِ اسلام میں ایسی لازوال ہستیاں موجود ہیں جو دین و دنیا کو ایک ساتھ بہترین انداز میں لے کر چلیں...

اب میں آتا ہوں حالیہ یومِ خواتین کے موقع پر ہونے والے عورت مارچ کی... میں اس موضوع پہ بات نہیں کرنا چاہتے تھا کیونکہ یہ میرے نزدیک اتنا اہم نہیں ہے کہ اس پہ بات کر کے وقت ضائع کیا جائے... لیکن ابھی ابھی ایک وڈیو نظر نہیں سے گزری جس میں ایک بزرگ یہ فرماتے ہوئے نظر آئے کہ یہ سب کچھ نکاح کی وجہ سے ہو رہا ہے اور نکاح ختم ہونا چاہیے... استغفار

میں عورت کی آزادی اور مردوں کے شانہ بشانہ ایک ساتھ ملک و قوم کی بہتری اور فلاح کے لئے کام کرنے کو غلط نہیں کہتا... میرا ماننا ہے کہ اس دور میں خواتین کو برابر کے حقوق ملنے چاہیں اور اس سلسلے میں ہماری کئی خواتین بہت پروقار طریقے سے اپنے مسائل اجاگر کئے... مگر جس طرح کے نعرے اور جو لغویات عورت مارچ میں موجود کئی نام نہاد لبرلز نے اٹھائے ہوئے تھے وہ عورت کو آزاد نہیں بلکہ اخلاقی بستی کی انتہاء پہ جھونکنے کے مطالبات تھے...

نکاح معاشرے کو متوازن رکھتا ہے... جن ممالک میں خاندانی اقدار اور روایات ختم ہو رہی ہیں ان سے پوچھیں... کوئی اگر مذہب اور اسلامی معاشرے کے بنائے ہوئے قوانین کے خلاف بولنے اور عمل کرنے کو ہی آزادی سمجھتا ہے تو اسے علم ہونا چاہیے یہ آزادی نہیں بلکہ زہنی پسماندگی ہے... شیطان کے ہاتھوں کٹھ پتلی بنے ہوئے یہ لبرل خواتین و حضرات آزادی نہیں مانگ رہے تھے بلکہ صرف اور صرف اللہ پاک کے عذاب کو دعوت دے رہے تھے...

اگر آپ خواتین کے حقوق کی بات کرنا چاہیں تو آپ کے پاس مسائل پہ بات کرنے اور حقوق کی جنگ لڑنے کے لئے موضوعات کی کمی نہیں ہے... خواتین کے لئے مساوی تعلیمی سہولیات، نوکری کے وسائل، ونی اور کارو کاری، غیرت کے نام پہ قتل، خواتین کو وراثت میں جائز حق، گھروں میں کام کرنے والی بچیوں اور خواتین پہ ظلم و تشدد، زیادتی اور جانے کتنے ہی مسائل ہیں جو واقعی حل طلب ہیں اور ان پہ ہر فورم پہ بات کرنا میں وقت کی اہم ترین ضرورت سمجھتا ہوں مگر جن باتوں کی آزادی خواتین مارچ میں موجود لوگ چاہ رہے تھے وہ صرف اخلاقی گراوٹ ہے...

میں ایک مرتبہ پھر یہی کہنا چاہوں گا کہ ہمارے تمام مسائل کی وجہ دینِ محمدی (ص) سے دوری ہے... اگر ہم اپنے مسائل حل کرنے کے لئے سنجیدہ ہیں تو اب بھی وقت ہے اسلام نے رشتہ پکا کر لیں... یقین مانیے آپ کو عزت، احترام، محبت، وقار اور وہ تمام حقوق بناء مانگے بناء کوئی جدوجہد کئے خودبخود مل جائیں گے... اس دین میں عورت کو ماں ہونے کی صورت می  قدموں میں جنت، بیٹی ہونے کی صورت میں باپ کے لئے رحمت اور زوجہ ہونے کی صورت میں شوہر کے نصف ایمان کی وارث قرار دیا ہے... جب تک عورت گھر میں موجود اپنے گھریلو امور انجام دے رہی ہوتی ہے، اپنے بچوں کی پرورش کر رہی ہوتی ہے، شوہر کے مال اور اپنی اور شوہر کی عزت و آبرو کی حفاظت کر رہی ہوتی ہے تو وہ اللہ پاک کی رحمت کے سائے میں رہتی ہے...

میری تمام ماؤں بہنوں اور بیٹیوں سے گزارش ہے کہ اسلام سے اپنا رابطہ مضبوط کریں... اسلامی تاریخ کی عظیم ترین ہستیوں کی حیاتِ طیبہ کا مطالعہ کریں... اور سب سے بڑھ کر یہ کہ حجاب کو فروغ دیں... آپ ہمارا فخر ہیں... اپنا وقار قائم اور بلند رکھیں اور آزادی کے کھوکھکے نعروں سے متاثر ہو کر کسی غیر کی بات پہ دھیان نہ دیں...

Article Written by #ShahbazAliNaqvi #Shoby

International Women Day...

#InternationalWomenDay

آٹھ مارچ کو دنیا بھر میں خواتین کا عالمی دن منایا جاتا ہے... اس دن کو منانے کا مقصد خواتین کی معاشرے میں عزت و وقار بلند کرنا اور لوگوں کے شعور و آگہی میں اضافہ ہے...

اسلام نے خواتین کو بہت عزت و مقام دیا ہے... عورت جب ماں ہے تو اس کے قدموں تلے اولاد کی جنت، بیوی ہے تو شوہر کے نصف ایمان کی وارث اور بیٹی ہے تو اپنے والد کے لئے رحمت... میں اس موقع پر خراجِ عقیدت اور سلام پیش کرنا چاہتا ہوں کائنات میں عالمین میں تمام خواتین کی سردار سیدہ فاطمہ زہرا (س) بنتِ محمد مصطفیٰ رسول اللہ (ص) کو... آپ کی شان آپ کے فضائل یقیناً ہمارے علم و عقل سے بہت بلند ہیں... یہیں سے اندازہ لگا لیجیے کہ آپ کے قدموں میں جن بچوں کی جنت ہے وہ خود جنت کے سردار ہیں... آپ اپنے شوہر کے نصف ایمان کی وارث اور وہ بھی وہ عظیم ہستی جو خود کُل کا کُل ایمان ہیں... آپ اپنے والدِ محترم کے لئے رحمت اور والدِ محترم بھی وہ عظیم ترین ہستی جو خود رحمت اللعالمین ہیں... سبحان اللہ... اس میں کوئی شک نہیں کہ بی بی پاک کی حیاتِ طیبہ میں ہم سب خصوصاً ہماری ماؤں بہنوں بیٹیوں کے لئے بہترین نمانہ عمل موجود ہے...

آج کی خواتین نا صرف گھریلو امور نبٹاتی ہیں بلکہ زندگی کے مختلف شعبہ جات میں بھی مردوں کے شانہ بشانہ کام کرتی ہیں... ملک و قوم کی ترقی کے لئے خواتین کی تعلیم اور عملی طور پہ مختلف شعبوں میں ان کی شمولیت بہت ضروری ہے... پڑھی لکھی عورت پڑھا لکھا معاشرہ بناتی ہے...

میں اس موقع پر اپنی پوری ٹیم کو بھی شاباش دینا چاہتا ہوں... میری ٹیم میں موجود ہر ایک ممبر اپنی زمہ داریوں کو سمجھتا ہے... ہم بناء کسی زاتی غرض و فائدہ کے نئے لکھنے والوں کی حوصلہ افزائی کے لئے ایک معیاری پلیٹ فارم مہیاء کرتے ہیں... مجھے اپنی ٹیم پہ فخر ہے جس طرح یہ تمام ممبرز اپنی زاتی مصروفیات سے وقت نکال کر آپ سب کے لئے کوششیں کرتے ہیں...

آج کے دن صرف یہ پیغام دینا چاہوں گا کہ اپنا وقار بلند رکھیے... آپ کا وقار بلند ہے تو قوم و ملت کا وقار بلند ہے... یاد رکھیے جب تک ہماری خواتین کے سروں پہ حجاب ہے ہمارے سر فخر سے بلند ہیں اور ہم سر اٹھا کر چلتے ہیں...

اللہ پاک آپ سب کو دنیا و آخرت کے ہر میدان میں کامیابی عطا فرمائیں الہی آمین

#ShahbazAliNaqvi #Shoby

My Team in PSL 4... Special Blog by Shoby

So the time of the year has arrived, when everyone will be glued to the screens to witness the greatest extravaganza of cricket in Pakistan. Season four of Pakistan Super League (PSL) is going to be kicked off from Feb 14, 2019 and the most exciting thing this season is that this time almost 8 matches will be played in Pakistan. I really wish, one day we can see the complete season being played in Pakistan (Insha ALLAH).

Lets talk about my most favourite team or the team I am going to support in PSL. No points on guessing that I am not at all going to change my team this season as well... From the very first season, no matter what the results are, I have always been supporting whole heartedly only one team...

The team representing one of the coolest capital of the planet The Coolest Islamabad United. Well it really needs no reason to have one of these six competing teams as your favourite. But still let me sjare you my top two reasons why I support IU. One, it belongs to my city. Secondly, bhai is ke owner bhi to apney NAQVIs hi hain na (ha ha ha :-) But one thing that didnt go well with me this season is, Misbah ul Haq is not playing from IU. He has joined Peshawar Zalmi franchise. Therefore, IU will be lead by Muhammad Sami.

As a matter of the fact, which ever team wins, ultimately it is about the victory of cricket and one who will emerge as victorious will be no one else but our beloved Pakistan.

So I am all enthralled and excited and really cant wait to see the hits bringing smashing out of the park maximums and getting the bails & wickets dislodged by some real time pace bowling. Cricket has the tendency to join us together and we should use this event as a channel to be united.

My message, support your team with full zeast but dont bother who wins or loose because at the end of the day, it is just about all of us. It is about Pakistan. Wishing all the teams and players a very good luck... May the best team wins...

AMKK- My Next Poetry Book...

AMKK- My Next Poetry Book...

MBMST was a dream and it went on to be a huge success... It managed to get quite a good volume of fame in the eyes of my readers in public and at the same time, it got some immense praise & appreciation from the biggies of the field... Well known poets of our era including Fakhira Batool Naqvi, Wafa Chishti, Naseem e Sehar, Col. Maqbool Hussain, Zain Shakeel and many others gave me some incredible feedback after reading the book...

To tell you honestly, right after the honeymoon period of MBMST was over (exactly three months of its launch), people started asking me about my next book... I was literally circled with queries like when I am going to pen my next book and I was always like, Sabar kero yaar... Abhi MBMST enjoy kerney do mujhey... But after almost three years, I made myself ready for the second book...

People are now asking, what kept me away from the next book for three long years... My reasons are quite simple... I wanted my readers to get comfortable with my style of writing and having said this, I dont want to give them the same old story in the same old style everytime... I am not a stereotypical poet and there are many hallmarks of traditional poets that are NOT present in me whatsoever...

I dont attend a lot of mushayaras, as I dont want the same ten, twenty poets to listen to my stuff and I dont have the aptitude & patience of digesting the poetry coming from their side too :-) (I know I am sounding a bit rude but this is what I really am)...

I want my readers to have something new everytime I write... This is the very reason why I am now a days away from writing novel/ afsana/ films reviews and blogging... Plus I was busy with other projects esp The Master Storyteller... Judging itself is a full time job and I dont want to compromise on the quality I give to the work I am associated with...

In short, there is a long list of things that almost intrigued me to stay calm and wait for the next time... Alhamdo LILLAH the right part of time has now arrived and yes I am done with the first draft of my next book.

Insha ALLAH when you will get to read my next book #AMKK (the title of which I am going to announce on Feb 14, 2019), you will defintely observe a change in the overall feel of the book... You will see new topics, new subject matters and new untouched things & phenomenon... Nevertheless I must say, AMKK is the next episode of the very same story which was narrated by me in MBMST...

Hope you are enjoying these waiting moments...

Stay Blessed and Happy Waiting...

#ShahbazAliNaqvi #Shoby

Simba- Movie Review by Shoby

Simba- Movie Review by Shoby

3.5 Hearts Out of 5

Fates of recent flops with some big names of industry have proved quite categorically that gone are the days when you could create a brainless entertainer and cine-goers would have jumped in joy. To be honest, I was not confident about Simba in the first place and went to the near theater with simply no expectations at all. Reason being quite simple, I am not at all a fan of Rohit Shetty's cinema but what came to me as a surprise was an exceptional action drama loaded with some amazing music & a bit of romance sprinkled over it.

Don't expect some extraordinary stuff here, as far as the story is concerned. Simba, an orphan with a lion's heart, has chosen to become a policeman, as the only thing he wants is power and he has learned in his childhood that power comes with the uniform. However, his life changes from a notorious policeman to a revenge seeking officer on duty, as he is appointed as in-charge in a police station in Goa. Rest should be watched in the movie, as I don't want to be spoiler.

Simba is all about a tightly written script, translated into a gripping screenplay with some awesome acting prowess shown by some seasonal actors. I would not be wrong, if I say, Simba is all about Ranveer Singh. Ranveer shines and simply bursts out of the 70 mm screen with his energy & bravura performance. Indeed, he has come a long way in acting department and I shall give the due share of credit for this to Sir Sanjay Leela Bhansali, whose assignments (Raam Leela, Bajirao Mastani & Padmaavat) has taught Ranveer, how to bring the best out of him. Sara Ali Khan looks beautiful & decent in the short role, but I feel, she could have done much better in acting especially she struggles in the romance department. Sonu Sood, Asutosh Rana, Siddhartha Yaadav and the supporting cast did exceptionally well. Cameos of Ajay Devgan as Singham and Akshay Kumar is a pleasant surprise.

Music by a bunch of musicians (Tanishk Bachi, Lijo George, DJ Chetas and S Thaman) with lyrics of (Shabbir Ahmed, Rashmi Virag, Kumaar & Kunal Verma) is appealing and goes smoothly with the story. Track Ankh Marey is an excellent foot tapping number with cameo appearances by Team Golmaal. Tere Bin is a recreated version of Sir Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan sb's classical track. Aala Re Aala & Simba theme plays in the background just enhances the overall flavor.

As in the early products of Rohit Shetty, this time yet again you get to see some stunning visuals, courtesy Jomon T. John's eye catching cinematography. Editing is also crisp. Action scenes have been choreographed nicely and they have a signature of Rohit Shetty's action.

Dialogues are just about perfect. Some scenes in the movie leaves with you even after you leave the theater. The coming of age from notorious happy go lucky mischievous Policeman to reasonable revengeful officer on duty is a treat to watch. See the scenes where Ranveer asks the old man to slap him, as he was never slapped in childhood by his father as he was orphan. To me, it was perhaps the best scene of the movie.

Overall, I believe, Rohit Shetty has learned so much from his mistakes in last ventures and no doubt, Simba is his best work till date.My verdict, Simba is a winner in every department. Go, watch it just for an electrifying performance by Ranveer.

PS: Don't Forget To Provie Your Valuable Feedback in Below Comment Box

Umm ul Yaqeen (Sumiara Hameed)- Review by Shoby

Umm ul Yaqeen (Sumaira Hameed)- Review by Shahbaz Ali Naqvi (Shoby)

"If you can't get a miracle, become one", says Nick Vujicic, an Australian motivational speaker with a rare syndrome, whose mother refused to see and hold him, when he was born with no hands & legs. So what does it take to lead a normal life, when life challenges you to become anything but normal? Courage, motivation, belief, faith and you may recall numerous words from the dictionary but wait and think again, is it really like this easy to gain the courage, or get motivated or have a firm faith, when everything is going against the wind. No, it is not. But you become a hero only, when you defeat the villains and the biggest villain of yours is nothing but your dis-belief. Sumaira Hameed's Umm ul Yaqeen, as the name suggests, is the story of the same (Belief & Faith).

Just giving you a hint of what happens in the novel, it is a combo of wonderfully penned success stories of two girls with entirely different backgrounds, culture & time with only one thing in common. Coming of age, from extremely notorious and super cool to the most humble and thankful beings. It tells us about how Huda and Dabees coup up with the biggest challenge of their lives and the way they became a symbol of motivation for others. One, cruising towards death in every coming second and the other, forced to live a life, which en-route her to beg for death, rather than pray to live.

I believe the best thing that Religions (in the broader spectrum) have given their followers is the HOPE. Hope that everything will be better, if not here, then somewhere else, if now now then some other time. This hope, when nurtured honestly by the follower, is converted into Belief and this Belief makes you the winner. Recall what Prophets had to undergo throughout their lives. One verse from Sura Yaseen always enhances my personal motivational level.

(And it was said) Ah! Woes on those bondmen, when any Messenger comes to them, they merely mock at them (Sura Yaseen Verse 30).

Undoubtedly people who suffered the most in their lives are the Prophets but they stood tall to their Belief and focused on their sole objective i.e. to preach the word of ALLAH and eventually they came out as the winners in every situation, courtesy the set of Belief, they had.

Imagine someone living the life to its fullest with no worries at all and within a fraction of moment, everything gets changed and the life is turned into hell. An incident that makes you fell from the heights of the skies to the deep beds of the Earths. Something like which Huda & Dabees went through. What would he or she do? One way is to give up everything and just wait for the final blow that is coming towards you with every coming second. Obviously, this is the way how most of the people would react. But there is another way to deduce the best out of the worst. Stand against all the odds and get ready to fight back, to show the problem statement, the real You within yourself. So, both of our super heroines did the same and what happens next, should be read in the novel.

One thing I feel about being motivated for something larger than life is the impact of a stimulus. This stimulus can be something that appears out of your own self (like in the case of Huda, in the form of the Shelley or the angel or you may call him the self-consciousness) or it may be an external force that motivated you to perform better (like what dabeesa had in the form of the flying bird, her father or the old woman). Be it the Huda's way or Dabees, the pertinent thing to be considered is that it is only You, that can bring out the Best from with yourself. Reason being quite simple, you know your SWOT and you can overcome all the weaknesses and avoid all the threats only when you are well aware of your own strengths. And only you can do it because you know all about you. Don't underestimate the roles of Huda's Angel, a small cameo from Liam, father of Dabees and the old woman. Regardless of the length, they all played their very significant roles in channelizing both of the girls' attitude towards their circumstances. At times, we need someone else to tell us, what we actually are capable of and the rest is on our shoulders about how we can use our own power.

Please take another note from here. My point is, worries, troubles and disturbances are caused to us for two primary reasons. One, they are the result of our very own misdeeds (call it a punishment) and secondly, they are not the punishment, rather an exam (call it a litmus test). It is very easy to judge, whether the trouble you have is your punishment or a test. In case your trouble makes you come closer to ALLAH, it was indeed a test and congratulations you have passed it i flying colors. If your worries drags you away from the right path, it is an indicator that you have surely done something not good and it is a punishment. As Sumaira states, you can't argue that "why you have been selected to bear all this". You don't know the game plan of ALLAH and indeed HE is the BEST PLANNER. Just try to stick to what is expected from you in circumstances.

Coming back towards the novel, it was a pleasure to read two stories with two utterly different backgrounds (in fact times) running so smoothly throughout the course of time. From 21st century glittery happening life of Chicago to the times gone-by (may be centuries old), Sumaira has kept the taste uniform. Time changes but not the human psyche. Both of them were a true representation of being Bold & Beautiful. They had a world in their pockets and they never wished for anything because all of their wishes used to come true before they even wish for them. They considered themselves as The Best, The Special but the destiny showed them the other side of the picture, which was even uglier & darker than they used to live in glitz & fun. They went on to become ordinary to find the true special being of themselves. Dunya mein aam logon ki tadaad zeyada hai... Jo waqai mein khas hotey hain woh doosron jaisa aam ban ker rehtey hain... The Faith brought them to the winning post.

It is quite common for Sumaira to deal in multi-linguistic approach, while moving from one story to another. From deriving new terms (Fot-niya) to usage of global brands (Audi, Dior etc.) & really kool slangs (Killing, Signature, Fashionista, Super Iconic etc.) to a very simple language which carries the atmosphere of Middle East (near  in it, Sumaira was on top of her research. Another amazing stuff that we witnessed in Umm ul Yaqeen was the small little quotations from some real life heroes like Edhi sb, Holy Butcher, Steve Jobs, Ali Banat etc. that came after every important point in the story. They surely enhanced the effect of the subject matter. She beautifully mixed up her arguments by taking a bit of the help from the religious teaching & philosophical theories and amalgamated them wisely, showing their impact on the humans of old & new world.

Talking about some notable scenes of the novel. It has some awesome scenes in it esp., the Opera Show scene, Convocation scene and the last dual frame scene that tells the penultimate climax of both stories. Entry scenes of both the girls were amazing, and both of these scenes set the right tone for the future. Stoning scene of Dabees deserved a standing ovation.

Sumaira knows how to picture through words. Some dialogues stay with you even, after the read is over.

Bachpan ke gham chotey or takleef bari hoti hai
Dolat mand hona agar gunah hai to her shakhs gunah'gaar hona chahta hai...
Hum humesha apni jagah badalna chahtey hain... Hum humesha kisi doosrey ki zindagi jeena chahtey hain... Hum ne hum ban ker rehna seekha hi kab hai...

Log KHUDA se muhabbat kerna to chor saktey hain lakin korhi se nafrat kerna nahi...
Insan ko koi cheez matti se sona, soney se heera or heerey se koh e noor nahi banatai, jitni jaldi takleef banati hai...

The only complaint I have from this read is its length. I feel, it may have been more impactful, if it was a bit shrank, as I felt a bit dragged in some places. But again, it is the writer's call to decide the length of the story. She must have a good reasoning behind the two episode stuff.

One thing I love about Sumaira's writing is her, spreading the hope in the world through her words. Almost every writing piece of her asks us to believe in ourselves and have a firm belief on ALLAH. This novel too, tells us about our relationship with ALLAH and our own self. There is a HADEES e MUBARKA, where RASOOL PAK (saww) says, whosoever knows himself, knows his LORD. So, in order to achieve the triumph, one must have to go through a difficult patch. But the real mantra lies in realizing who you really are, what you are capable of and last but not the least, never letting it go, the belief that your CREATOR loves you the most.

GOD's Love is so real that HE created you to prove it. (Nick Vujicic)

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Zero- Trailer Review by Shoby

The name Anand L Rai is associated to a cinema which is loved by masses and acclaimed by critics. Be it Tanu Weds Manu, Tanu Weds Manu returns or Raanjhna, his films have always that unique selling point which struck right at the correct chord. This time, he has come up with a star studded affair tentatively titled as Zero, starring hit trio of Jab Tak Hai Jaan, Shahrukh, Katrina and Anushka, where SRK is playing a dwarf and Anushka is playing a role of a physically challenged wheel chair restricted girl, whereas Katrina (apparently) plays a model/ super star.

The film's trailer has almost everything that you can expect from a biggie. From some fun, entertaining moments to melo-drama and tear jerking frames, it has masala in the very right volume. Looks like SRK and Anushka have played their very demanding & challenging roles with utmost ease and Katrina is surely enhancing the overall glam quotient. A few scenes featuring SRK and Anushka deserves standing ovation. Although not much music is revealed in the trailer but just from the glimpse of one song, we can expect a nice flavor of music, as we always witness in Anand's earlier endeavors. Music is composed by Ajay-Atul and lyrics are penned by Irshad Kamil.

Overall, this Christmas should be more entertaining for the moviegoers, as they surely are going to have a nice dose of sheer entertaining cinema

Watch Video Review Here:
https://youtu.be/Pw7JnleTslg

Suljhey Huey Logon Ki Uljhi Hui Kahaniyan- Book Review by Shoby

Suljhey Huey Logon Ki Uljhi Hui Kahaniyan (Binte Syed)- Book Review by Shahbaz Ali Naqvi (Shoby)

Prolific American writer Ernest Hemingway said, “There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” Books are love and to me, reading & writing is a blessing in its own way. In this digital age of globalisation, we have lost a class of writers which ultimately resulted in the loss of charm of reading and not many of us dare to write complete books. I personally feel that writing a book is not an easy cup of tea, especially for the new entrants. There is a very little or practically no reception in terms of books sale and while writing a book, you are basically taking a risk, if you are not an established writer.

This is why, I always admire those who become a ray of hope by writing something and then take a challenge to convert their writings into books. In this book drought, here we have Ms. Bint e Syed, who has become a ray of hope for people like me. Hope of belief that some people still exist, who want to make a difference. Now let us explore her book and see, what she has in it for the reader.

SHLKUHK is an interesting title and it clearly indicates the overall theme of the book, which is further elaborated by the writer in her preface. She says, Yeh kahaniyan hain suljhey huey logon ki, jo ulajh gaey mubabbat ke bandham mein... This book is a collection of 14 short stories with diverse shades of our society.

According to English novelist/ philosopher Aldous Huxley “To write fiction, one needs a whole series of inspirations about people in an actual environment, and then a whole lot of work on the basis of those inspirations.” The same simple practice is followed by the writers and the result is this book in your hands. As a true artist, she seems to be inspired from the actual proceedings of our society and this is what her writing has taught me about her. 

The characters used in various stories belong to our very own society and we can easily relate or locate them within us. Although, it is a work of fiction but while reading the book, you never feel, if you reading some fictitious stuff. Reason being the use of real common language & dialect, which everybody can relate with. I feel, you must have met with some of these characters with different names, at different places in some part of your life in our very own living planet. 

We human beings are perhaps the most complex creation of ALLAH PAK, courtesy our complex nature. We are emotional and we have something that differentiates us from other creations, power to express our feelings through verbal & non-verbal communication tools. Language & words play an integral part in our life and we don't hesitate in giving us our opinion in various issues. This opinion can be in any form and at times, we really don't care, how the other one will feel or react to our thoughts.

Bint e Syed has highlighted the same phenomenon in her different stories and the best thing about her writing is, she never tried to be judgemental. rather, she left it all to her readers to decide whether the action of her protagonists were right or wrong. This is the best quality of a writer to write without being biased and let your readers decide the goodness or badness of an act.

One good thing about the writer is her simplicity in presentation. She never tried to exaggerate the things, which would have made the story look superficial. In fact, she kept the things plain enough to give her readers and opportunity to read, understand, monitor and decide. Her dialogues are plain and easy to understand, however, at times, they look like cliched. So I personally feel she should focus more on her dialogue structure building. At places I have found few grammatical & linguistic mistakes, which should be avoided in future to enhance the impact of writing.

I have a major complaint for new comers, they don't take the writing serious. It is quite evident from the fact that they simply ignore the very basics of writing. One should know the basics of the domain in which he or she is working. Poetry has its own sets of rules which I call the Science of Art of Poetry and similarly prose has also some set pattern to follow. If you don't follow the SOPs, you will not live for long in the field of literature. 

This is for everyone, who is in writing field, please focus on what you are writing. While writing a short story, fiction (afsana), novel or novelette, you should bifurcate the narrative part with the dialogues. Do not make a mess of it by joining everything at one place. This will do no good for you. As a matter of fact, it distracts, rather bores the reader. If you want your writings to look efficient & effective, clearly give spaces, use valid punctuation marks, where they are needed, classify between the narrative part with the dialogues. This is the way to make your read look clean and easy to understand.

As I always say and mention in my reviews, in order to write good, you have to read well and in order to write well, you must read the best. The more you will read, the better you can write. An artist especially a writer has to be a keen observer of society as well as an avid reader. This is the only way to think out of the box and to bring the uniqueness out of yourself. Unfortunately, new comers don't learn a lot from the experiences and they carry on committing the same mistakes. Either they try to reinvent the wheel or they are happy with what they are doing. I always focus on one thing, son't stop learning. 

If you ask me, which was my favourite story from this collection, I would probably unable to answer you with a single title. I guess, all of these stories have the same flavour, which primarily tells us about different shades of love , friendship, romance and other human relations. However, I feel, Zaat Ka Safar is indeed the best story of the book. It was authentic to the core and conveyed the message amazingly. Khudkushi was another daring attempt to showcase something new. 

Being monotonous with her subject picking, up to some extent made me bored at times, as considering her abilities, I was expecting her to discover some more unique genres. But as she is new in the field, I believe she will make the best use of her writing skills in future. I believe, she will definitely take her writing to the next level in her upcoming works. She will surely write unorthodox and will bravely explore the unexplored.

I would leave you guys with one request. When someone writes something, give him or her the due share of respect by providing your honest feedback.  In this case, I would urge you to purchase Binte Syed's book and do give your valuable (honest) feedback to her read her, so that she get some more motivation and works more hard in future.

Woh Khawab Woh Khayal (Sidra Abbas)- Review by Shoby

Woh Khawab Woh Khayal (Sidra Abbas)- Review by Shahbaz Ali Naqvi (Shoby)

Women Empowerment is the voice of this century. We have seen some great women in the history who have stood up firm against the tyranny faced by either themselves or other women in this male dominated society. Same is depicted in different art forms and almost every domain of art has done its part in this regard. Sidra Abbas took the same subject matter and gave us her take in this mystery titled as Woh Khawab Woh Khayal in TMS Darr Matt.

Let me tell you that regardless of being relatively new in the business, Sidra is a very authentic writer and her command on portraying social taboos is amazing. I have been a fan of her story Dhool, for which she won a position in TMS Season One. So, it was quite obvious for me that whatever she will write, she will surely highlight some serious social issues and WKWK is the picture of my words.

WKWK is a beautiful blend of two stories with the primary focus on the little developing love story between a young college going boy with a lady in her mid 30s (a love story with different religious backgrounds too) and another story which makes the ultimate background climax of the story of a courageous woman, who tried to fight for her right but ended up being abused in the society both morally and physically. You know what, the fear emerges from where the tyranny ends and here the writer produced the same.

Although the premises of the story seems to be a tested & tried formula but Sidra has done well to mark her own stamp onto the story. She is a keen observer and what I like about her writing is her dialect which goes smoothly well with the aura of the story. She used the environment of ancient Aligarh in this story and used two different languages. One being pure Aligarh style Hindi dialect of Urdu and second, native language of the locals with a bit hard & stretched accent. The backbone of this story is the amazing use of old song's lyrics and Ghazals amalgamated well with some dance.

The writer has a habit of using some real eye catching lines after every now & then. See how beautifully she portrays the feelings. Kabhi kabhi main sochti hoon ke is puri dharti mein aik ramz hai, aik taal hai...Raat mein aisa kiya hai... Raat mein khushi hai, jashan hai, milan hai...Woh sangeet ki malka thi... Jab gaati to jatey musafir ruk ker sunney lagtey... Jab naachti to waqt ki dharkan bhi saakin ho jati... Woh kala ka fakhar thi...

In order to gel in with the theme of the competition, writer used some amazing chill creating scenes where a woman is shown dancing in nights. The mystery enhances with the supremely graceful lady sings or listens to some of the great old compositions with all the sorrow and sadness, depicted through her face. Dialogues are rich and give a feeling of you being there right into the proceedings. Sidra was never in a hurry and she brought the penultimate climax with sheer ease and flexibility.

Let me also discuss some short comings in the story that the writer needs to work on. First of all, this story was placed in such an environment, where we have already seen multiple stories already. I would have been more happy if the writer would have taken some unique premises. I expect these writers to do some extra effort and come up with diverse unexplored ideas. Secondly. apart from a couple of scenes, no serious fear factors were present in the plot and it looked more like a social drama than a horror mystery. But still,m this story is a winner in its own domain and it remains with the reader for her larger than life scenes and classical dance and musical background.

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Jo Tu Chahey To (Zohra Khalid)- Review by Shoby

Jo Tu Chahey To (Zohra Khalid)- Review by Shahbaz Ali Naqvi (Shoby)

Vanessa: Let it end. With a kiss.

Ethan: With a kiss. With love.

Vanessa: With love.

(Penny Dreadful)

Horror, mystery, suspense and thrillers are the genres, I love the most. I believe, trying any of these genres is as much difficult as writing comedy. Reason is quite visible, here, you have a vast land to explore but in the same time, you have a very less margin of getting diverted from your main pitch of ground. The intensity of the risk even more increases, when you are coping up with a psychological thriller and Zohra Khalid is a brave writer, who tried to write on this genre.

I read Zohra Khalid for the first time in The Master Storyteller (Season One) and to tell you honestly, her first story didn't impressed me much, even if I give her the margin of being a new comer. But as they say, hard work is the key to success, I have never seen someone more hardworking than Zohra and result is quite clear. From Muhabbaton Ke Jahan Mein to Jo Tu Chahey To, she has come a long way and I have witnessed immense improvement in her writing. Her thought process & brainstorming is a clear indication of how unique, she wants to write and this story JTCT has strengthened my belief that she is here to make her own mark in our literature.

JTCH deals with the complexity of human emotions and reactions of individuals on the actions of our so-called society. The more we try to hide ourselves from others by avoiding their miss-deeds, the more they try to influence us through their desperate and demotivating acts.

JTCH stands tall on depicting two major phenomenon. One, how a couple especially the ladies of our society goes through both mentally & physically, when they are lacking something and secondly, how the overall society damages their integrity & abolishes their own confidence through their negative feedback. It is a simple say, if you cant solve anyone's problem, don't try to become the part of the problem, but alas, we, collectively, does not endorse the same. On the same page, Zohra very delicately presented a nice strong bond of the couple and their cooperation with each other, while going through a dark phase of their live. This is actually what relationships require, to be with each other, in every thick & thin.

Considering the theme of TMS Darr Matt competition, what excited me the most in JTCH, was Zohra's different game plan to go with. Believe me, this was one of the genres, I wanted participants to explore but unfortunately, no one paid attention on this shade of fear. Frank Herbert says, “I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.”

This psychological thriller was a nice compact tale of how you should overcome with the fear of uncertainty, in order to achieve the triumph. The nice little dream sequences in the story were a real winner and I just loved the way Zohra used English mono-liners. Lines like I don't live in darkness, The Darkness lives in me... All monsters are humans... I love the darkness in you... are penned beautifully and they really brought some chills in the plot.

They were more than effective in enhancing the overall flavor of the story. It was indeed a sigh of relief to see a young writer summing the whole thing up by using merely two main protagonists with a couple of supporting characters. Thankfully, she conveyed her message clearly without making any mess by using needless number of characters.

I would also like to mention a few shortcomings, that should be avoided in future by the writer in order to make her writings more powerful. No doubt, she is a keen observer and her research is visible in the plot, but she needs to focus more on dialogues structure building. It is a very bad habit of our new young lot of writers that they don't focus on grammatical & phonetic detailing. And the worst part is, they don't differentiate between narrative & dialogue writing. This is a matter of concern for Zohra as well. But I believe, she will improve in future. Considering it as the initial phase of her writing career, I must say, with a little more hard work & creative thinking, she can become a brilliant writer. You all should remember Paulo Coelho's famous saying, "Remember your dreams and fight for them. You must know what you want from life. There is just one thing that makes your dream become impossible: the fear of failure."

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Rah e Noor- Novel Review by Shoby

Rah e Noor- Novel Review by Shahbaz Ali Naqvi (Shoby)

Say, "O you who are Jews, if you claim that you are allies of Allah, excluding the [other] people, then wish for death, if you should be truthful."

(Sura Jummah- Ayat Number 6)

Whenever I recite this thought provoking Ayat e Mubarka from Sura Jummah, I always wonder what the #death has in it, that ALLAH PAK has categorically challenged Jews to wish for it, in case they think themselves as allies of ALLAH and truthful.

Now check this line from Rah e Noor. Zindagi ki mehraab per likhi tehreer ka pehla lafz maut hai. Maut jor hai, tor nahi. Yes, this is the universal truth. Death, in reality, is simply a transition process, which teleport you from one universe (read jahaan) to another. So, what it takes to wish for death. The equation is quite simple. You wish for death and when it comes to you, you will get to know the truth of everything. The truth of your belief system and deeds. If they are proved to be valid, you will be rewarded by ALLAH PAK, otherwise, believe me dears, we are the one on the losing side and this loss is forever and no one knows what the term FOREVER means.

Coming towards Rah e Noor, Sumaira Hameed has chosen another interesting topic and this time she has come up with a win-win story. Rah e Noor is the story of three characters, who are all set to commit suicide, after-all what the hell is left in this not-so-friendly world. But the story takes you to a never seen before journey, which concludes on a very motivating note. Obviously, I wont tell you the whole story, as I don't want to be spoiler. You should read it to know what happens afterwards.

I feel, when life deprives you of every thing that you love & care, you are left with three emotions. Anger, Hate and Regret. Anger makes you weak, hate stimulates you to seek revenge and regret leaves you with frustration. Now take this phenomenon, what would someone do if he is on the verge of seeking revenge but is weak from inside and has nothing but frustration in his pocket. The result would be a big zero. So, what should one do, when life bereaves you of every damn thing that you cherish. It is the make or break scenario. I believe, all these three feelings (i.e. anger, hate & regret) are energies. If someone channelize them and make the positive & productive use of these energies, he will comes out as a survivor, and he will emerge as a real life hero. This is what we call a success story and the world is full of these success stories, out of which this Rah e Noor is one amazing affair.

The novel begins in a signature Sumaira Hameed's style and it reminded me of the start of her earlier offerings, Jog Aas and Wali. The novel briskly changes the mood and a bit of sadness gathers around you, when you get to know that the protagonists have started their journey towards the ultimate end (i.e. death) but with the passage of time, you feel, it is not a noir written by Sumaira, rather, it is a slice of life, coming of age emotional roller coaster ride that evolves the characters very smartly.  I love the way how Sumaira changes gears from a mental hospital to Khewra mine and from full of life Pehelwan-land in Gujranwala to serene, calm & composed environment of land of Sufis, Multan and the story concludes in sub-urbs of lively Chakwal.

To tell you honestly, there are few movies & books, that you never want to be ended. You enjoy the proceedings so purely that you just want to continue the journey and never wish its ending to be happen in a near soon. To me, I place Imtiaz Ali's Highway, Sir Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Bajirao Mastani, ABC's TV Series Once Upon A Time, Showtime's TV Series Penny Dreadful and Ritupuarno Ghosh's Raincoat in this category. Yes, Rah e Noor, without any exaggeration, successfully manages its secured position in the same genre. This road trip tale is one, that I never want to be ended.

Being a poet, I believe, the most difficult thing is to sum up all you want to say in few words. Those poets are considered as greats who have shown their command in writing couplets in Small Behars. Similarly, novels like Borshay, Main Bint e Jameela, Rab ul Bashar and now this Rah e Noor can easily be converted into mega novels with more than one episodes but hats off to Sumaira by summarizing the whole story in only few pages and that too without compromising on the quality.

One unique thing that Sumaira has explored in this novel is the romance with the figure three (3). If you watch it closely, you will see the repetition of figure three (3) in many places in the novel. Check this, it is a story of three characters Haadi, Talal, Ibrahim (which basically is further originated from their three distinctive stories). Then comes, three (3) parts (pehar) of night. When they come out from the mine, they get to see three (3) Roshni... Zindagi ki Saans ki alamat, Bachey... Aik naya jahan abad honey ki alamat, Aasman... ALLAH PAK ki behisaab Rehmat ki Alamat. A small boy outside mine gives them three products, Shaheen, Safaid Phool, Khanjar. Three (3) moves (dao) of life. Pehla dao... Iman... ALLAH PAK ki adalat mein muqadma, Doosra... Sabar, Teesra... Raza... ALLAH PAK ki Raza pe Raazi. And last but not the least, Pehla Chakar... ALLAH PAK ne zindagi ko pasand kiya, Doosra Chakar... Zameen kahin nakhlistan hai kahin sehra... Insan ki zindagi, Teesra Chakar... Her shey her amal ki qaza hai... Zindagi ki nahi...

Talking about Sumaira's another strenght, the dialogue writing, here once again, she shines with the glory. See, how beautifully she uses the sweet Punjabi dilect, Ik Maan Meri O Piyari... Is Maa naal meri yaari.. Mera dil tey meri hayati... Main maa tu jind wari. It reminded me of the Gulzar sb's symbolical approach, when read Sumaira's words in the Para Gliding scene, Acha to uper se zameen aisi dikhai deti hai... Pehley maloom hota to woh safaid badlon mein aik ghar bana leta... Ghar ki khirkiyan khol ker roz aisa nazara kerta... The one statement that stunned me, Insan ke jism mein itni taqat hai to rooh mein kitni ho gi??? Kiyo ke Rooh jism se afzal hai... And this one has written Sumaira Hameed all over it, putting negative-positive in one phenomenon under same situation, Inhain Bhaa ki zabardastiyan achi lagney lagi thi... Inhain Bhaa ki zabardastiyan zehar lagney lagi thi... And this beautiful food for thought Kabhi dawa mein shifa hui hai??? Yeh to ikhtyar waley ke kamaal ka kamaal hai...

It is a fortay of Sumaira that she keenly observes the environment and minute details of her subject matter, due to which her writings stand out from the rest. The way she has used the native language of pehalwaans in Gujranwala is amazing. From their Kushtis and counting style, to the statement,  Zindagi jeetney ke liye 360 dao aney chahiye... Warna sirf Aik (1)... Insan ko jeena ana chahiye... Mar to sab ne jana hi hai, she was all pitch perfect.

Overall, This novel is an epic road trip tale, that acts as an amazing motivation, that makes you count what we have, instead of what we have not. It has a message written loud & clear on it, Live the life, as it is the best blessing of ALLAH PAK. Don't take it for-granted.

Jab aap mout ki taraf safar shuru ker rahey hotey hain magar zindagi aap baahen khol ke aap ka istaqbaal kerti hai...

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