Anokhi Mohabbat By Hafsa Malik

About this novel

Anokhi Mohabbat (Urdu: انوکھی محبت) by Hafsa Malik is a light Urdu romance between a hard-working salesman and a rich, sharp-tongued girl. Fuzail sells clothes in a shopping mall to support his mother and sister, and Hooria decides he has been following her.

It opens at breakfast. Shazia Sahiba scolds her son for coming home late and leaving early, and tells him they could manage on twelve thousand a month instead of the fifteen he brings home. Fuzail says it’s only for a few days, until his result comes out and he can apply for a proper job. His sister Maryam reminds him of the boxes he keeps forgetting to bring her, and he heads out the door promising to bring them today.

ایک سیلز مین، ایک مغرور لڑکی، اور ایک انوکھی سی محبت۔

Then we meet Hooria, stepping out of her car and gliding into the mall while talking on her phone. Rushing for the exit, she crashes into a man, and though it was her fault, she calls him jahil for standing in the way. He mutters that she is a proud girl who didn’t even say sorry. Inside, with her friend Laraib, she spots the same man again and is sure he’s following her, until a voice calls “Fuzail, come here and show madam the new dresses.” He works there.

What follows is pure nok jhok. Hooria stands at his counter and makes him unfold dress after dress, never the right colour or the right size, until Fuzail politely asks which one she actually wants, and she tells him to stay within his limits. Hafsa Malik plays the class difference between them for both comedy and feeling.

It’s 175 pages and easy to finish in a sitting or two.

You can read Anokhi Mohabbat online here or download the complete PDF for free. More by Hafsa Malik: Pher Wohi Ishq, Khuwabo Ka Shehzada, on the Hafsa Malik novels page.