Deewangi by Sadia Shah

About this novel

Deewangi (Urdu: دیوانگی) by Sadia Shah is a romantic Urdu novel about a dark-skinned girl hurt by her family and a spoiled rich young man. Their lives cross with an ordinary family rushing through its mornings, and the story opens with a couplet about the madness of love and a sentence that stings.

A girl sitting on the sofa tells her mother to keep her sister out of sight, because a rishta is coming for her today. Her mother agrees: she’ll make sure the other one stays inside, since every time she appears in front of the guests, ill luck seems to follow. Her sister has heard every word. She walks to her room in tears, asking herself why this always happens to her. If she is saanwli, is that her fault? She can do nothing but cry.

سانولی رنگت کا کیا قصور؟ دل تو سب کا ایک جیسا ہوتا ہے۔

The next scene is a world away. Arshan wakes in a bad temper and coldly throws a cheque at a girl in his room, telling her never to show her face again. Then his friend Naeem Durrani calls to remind him about a shoot. Arshan, who never cared much about the shoot, goes only because Naeem has always stood by him. Elsewhere, Madiha’s mother is calling loudly from the kitchen, and Madiha, already late for university, comes out grumbling.

Sadia Shah moves quickly between these threads, and the opening is full of the things her novel seems to care about: colour prejudice, arrogance, and the hidden pain behind ordinary faces. The title, “Deewangi”, promises that when love finally arrives, it won’t be calm.

You can read Deewangi online here or download the complete PDF for free. For more love stories, browse our Romantic Urdu novels.