Lately in the hefty rains of Karachi, I was wondering to read something which makes sense to the current situation of thunderstorms and gloomed evenings of the city of lights. The book I started reading was the perfect read of the season as I sensed every chapter of it, gut wrenchingly amazing to every bit. The scene where the protagonist was standing in her apartment’s window and observing the rain outside, holds a whole feel in it – which as totally resembled to the rainfall of Karachi.
جیپ ایک جھٹکے سے رُک گئی، کھڑکی پر دستک ہوئی۔ میں نے شیشہ نیچے کیا۔ برفیلی ہوا اندر داخل ہوئ۔ دوسری طرف گرتی برف کے درمیان، ڈوبتی روشنی میں، چہرہ ڈھانپے ایک شخص کھڑا تھا۔ کہیں دور، کسی پرندے کے پر پھڑپھڑائے۔ یک دم اُس کے ہاتھ میں بندوق چمکی۔
تکون کی چوتھی جہت (گرد کا طوفان)۔
_اقبال خورشید
Introduction: This novella contains two short stories firstly came into two literary magazines, then published first time in March 2019. This is the second edition.
Synopsis: In first part تکون کی چوتھی جہت it portrays the story of a couple, Maryam and Ahmar. Ahmar was on an official trip with his colleagues, in northern areas. When suddenly their jeep got stuck in the heavy snowfall and there came a couple of armed men demanding them to surrender. Ahmar was talking to Maryam on phone (she was pregnant) and there came a spine chilling nightmarish horror in Ahmar’s mind that maybe he’s talking to his wife last time. Phone call was disconnected.
After some unconscious hours, Ahmar found himself tied up into a smelly cattle farm & Maryam was wailing miles away for her husband, in the terror of what if he never come back?
To solve that mystery, the story was gripping & rich, and intrigued me till the end. In the form of fiction Iqbal Khursheed has depicted the terrorism and its causes, missions & psyche of raised terrorists very well.
Second part: گرد کا طوفان depicts the world of politics, dark crimes, and highlighted some serious social issues like poverty, illiteracy. The story of two best friends, Mushki and Wicky who got into some serious shit in the way of chasing their dreams, which led them into the path of never-ending crimes of gambling, political weaponization. Also, the darken issues of Karachi’s militant wings are highlighted in the novella. The lack of education can destroy a society, a whole nation on its extreme. One can feel helpless & adopt corrupt ways to earn their piece of bread. The ugly but real face of society has held a screaming canvas of pain in this book.
