Ishiq Bae Mazhab by Samreen Ahsan

About this novel

Ishq Be Mazhab by Samreen Ahsan is a long, thoughtful Urdu novel that opens in snowy Murree with a lonely girl. She watches the world from her window but feels far away from all of it.

Heavy snow is falling in Murree. Naika sits in her college classroom, looking out of the window. Not far from the college, people are walking along the road, enjoying the snowfall. The snow on the trees on both sides of the road looks like a white sheet has been spread over them, and some people are throwing snowballs at each other. She watches all this with interest, but instead of making her happy, it only makes her sadder.

Her class fellow Samira, who has been waiting for her outside, comes in. “Naika, aaj khana khane ka koi irada nahin? Main kab se tumhara wait kar rahi hoon, chalo neeche chalte hain.” She takes Naika’s hand and pulls her out. Samreen Ahsan tells us that Naika studied at a boarding school in Murree from class one, but after matric she had to leave school and come to college. Only a week ago her mother visited her. Her mother makes sure to come to Islamabad two or three times a month.

In the cafeteria, Samira asks what she wants to eat. Naika answers coldly that she doesn’t want anything, and Samira can eat if she likes, then turns her face away. Samira is hurt by her attitude: “Aakhir tumhare saath masla kya hai?” Every time she sees her, Naika is stuck to the window, staring at the snowfall as if seeing it for the first time, even though she has lived in Murree for years. “Main sirf barf dekhne ke liye nahin marti,” Naika replies in the same cold tone, without looking at her.

From these first quiet pages, Samreen Ahsan sets up a heroine carrying a hidden sadness, and the title promises a story about love, faith and what happens when the heart does not follow rules.

برف سے ڈھکی وادیوں میں بھی کچھ دل اندر سے سلگتے رہتے ہیں۔

Read more by Samreen Ahsan: Aansuon Ki Dua, or see all Samreen Ahsan novels and more romantic Urdu novels.