Dard Ka Daman by M Khalid Shahan

About this novelette

Dard Ka Daman (Urdu: درد کا دامن) by M Khalid Shahan is a short Urdu novel about a father’s lonely love for his daughter, Hiba. She now lives in a hostel and treats her own home almost like a stranger’s, and he does not know how to reach her.

The story opens with a rare event: after a whole week, Hiba has come home today, arriving in the morning and leaving again before evening. To her father it feels as if a cool, fragrant breeze has passed through the house. The moment she arrives, the whole place seems to wake up; a strange liveliness fills every corner, even though she barely speaks. He tries hard to make her talk, but she answers in a few words and falls silent again. He wants so badly for her to share something with him, but she never seems to want to say anything.

When she comes, she greets him formally, asks after his health, sits beside him for a little while and then goes off to her room. That stranger-like manner hurts him deeply. He never knows what she does in her room. At lunchtime he lovingly pushes each dish toward her and even serves food onto her plate himself, while she quietly says, “Leave it, I’ll take it myself,” and focuses on her meal. He shows no sign of it, but he is overjoyed just to watch her eat. He counts the days of every week until her visit, and on the day she is due, he has the cook prepare all her favourite dishes.

ہفتے بھر کا انتظار، چند گھنٹوں کی ملاقات، اور ایک باپ کی خاموش محبت۔

He wishes she would come home for good. This is her own home – so why does she live elsewhere? It hurts him most that she leaves before sunset, as if she must hurry back. He keeps asking himself what changed in these past few months, and the more he thinks, the more his sadness grows. Still, he consoles himself that at least she comes for a few hours; if she didn’t, what could he do? Living in the hostel is her wish and her happiness, and he can’t bring himself to stand in its way, even when it leaves him alone in an empty, silent house.

M Khalid Shahan writes quietly and movingly about a father-daughter relationship, distance and unspoken pain, and the title – “the hem of sorrow” – suits its gentle sadness.

You can read Dard Ka Daman online here or download the complete PDF for free. You may also like Chaman Zahra by Noor Shaal and Jafa by NNM, or browse more short Urdu novels.