‘Shirin, come back.’ Panicking and lifting up the hem of her shalwar, Laila ran after her daughter, beseeching her Allah Pak above the clear blue sky to come to her aid. For he now held her fate in his hands. Her daughter had disappeared straight into the crowd of men. Laila leaned against the mu...
Her face glowed with happiness. Getting off the bus, she walked through the fields of her village. She couldn’t wait to see her friend Neelum. Just ahead of her, she spotted one of her friends and hastening her pace, called out to her. Her friend stopped, turning round, and on spotting her, smile...
Carrying their hookahs in their hands, they strolled into the hawaili courtyard and stayed long into the night chatting away. With their hookah topped up with fresh tobacco by Siraj Din’s servants, and with delicious sweetmeats to eat and nuts to chew with their old teeth, the village elders pepp...
Seeing his manservant, he ordered a glass of cool lemon drink and sat on one of the chairs under the shade of the verandah. Kaniz’s shameful words compressed his lips into a thin line of fury. ‘Begharet aurat!’ He shook his head in disbelief. Just then his mother stepped o...