Ishq Nachenda Yar by Kiran Rafique

About this novel

Ishq Nachenda Yaar (Urdu: عشق نچاندا یار) by Kiran Rafique is a long Urdu romance that opens in a London hospital with a troubled child. It then jumps to Punjab University, where a cheeky, handsome student is famous for never passing his exams.

The first scene is heartbreaking. In a London hospital, a nine-year-old boy has been screaming the same lines for two months whenever he regains consciousness: “No… don’t touch me… please just leave me… I’ll kill you.” Two ward boys struggle to hold him while the doctor injects a sedative, and slowly he drifts off again. The hospital walls, the writer says, have grown used to his cries.

His mother, Mrs William, comes to visit as she does every day and stops outside the door, crying as she hears him. In her heart she apologises to Harry for not trusting him, for not caring enough, for not being a good mother. Dr John tells her honestly that the boy is physically fit but his mental health is slowly slipping; for his own good, his environment must change – perhaps he should be sent to a different country. The choice is hers. Remembering a decision she made six years ago, Mrs William finally calls a number she hasn’t dialled since then. A deep male voice answers. “Can I talk to Mr Khan?” After she explains, he says only, “I’m coming,” and hangs up.

لندن کے ہسپتال میں چیختا بچہ، اور لاہور کی یونیورسٹی میں ہنستا شہزادہ۔

Then the story shifts to Punjab University, Lahore. Students crowd around a café, mostly girls, because whenever he steps out of class, half the university’s girls skip lectures just to look at him: fair skin, French-cut beard, a sharp nose, silky black hair, six foot two in a white shirt and blue jeans. Today, though, everyone is there to watch his monthly humiliation. Sir Shafaat scolds him in front of everyone: “Mr Hatib Hamdan Shah, if you don’t want to study, why waste your parents’ money? You’ve been in this class for two years – when will your MBA be complete?” Hatib grins shamelessly: “When you get married.”

Kiran Rafique mixes emotional drama with comedy and charm, and the title – “love makes the beloved dance” – promises a lively, intense romance.

You can read Ishq Nachenda Yaar online here or download the complete PDF for free. More by Kiran Rafique: Tera Ishq Meri Bandagi, Yara Teri Yaariyan and Hiddat E Nikkah, or see all Kiran Rafique novels.