Manat Or Janat by Noor Shaal

About this afsana

Mannat Aur Jannat (Urdu: منت اور جنت) by Noor Shaal is a short, complete Urdu afsana about twin sisters who love each other dearly and fight with each other just as much.

The story opens with a familiar household scene. One of the girls comes out of her room calling loudly, “Amma… Amma, kidhar hain?” – which is unusual, because she is normally soft-spoken. She heads straight for the kitchen, where her mother, Wasifa Begum, can always be found in the morning. Wasifa Begum is surprised: what’s happened? It turns out the girl can’t find the dupatta of her silk suit anywhere. Her mother calmly tells her to look properly among her clothes, it must be there somewhere – but the girl insists she’s searched everywhere, and before she can finish, Amma has gone back to her work.

Then the writer introduces the family. Ghafoor Ahmad works in a bank, and he and Wasifa Begum belong to a middle-class household – not rich, but comfortable, with everything they need by Allah’s grace. About four years after their marriage, after many prayers and mannats, they were blessed with twin daughters. Wasifa had hoped for a son, yet both parents thanked God and welcomed their daughters as a rehmat.

جڑواں بہنیں، ایک ہی کمرہ، ایک جیسی شکل — مگر روز کی ایک نئی لڑائی۔

Respecting her mother-in-law’s wish, Wasifa gave the girls the names she had chosen: Mannat and Jannat. Both are as beautiful as their names and good-natured, and as much as they fight, they love each other just as much. Their parents never held back on their education or upbringing, and whenever anything was bought for them it was bought in pairs – yet somehow Mannat always ended up liking the very thing that was meant for Jannat. Mannat often borrows Jannat’s things without asking, Jannat gets cross, and soon they make up. Wasifa Begum has long since given up trying to sort out their daily squabbles. Sure enough, the next scene has Jannat storming into their shared room, furious: “Tumhari jurrat kaise hui yeh harkat karne ki?”

Noor Shaal keeps this afsana warm and light, about sisterhood, small jealousies and the bond that survives them.

You can read Mannat Aur Jannat online here or download the complete PDF for free. More by Noor Shaal: Chaman Zahra, Naye Mosam Ki Sehar and Man Ki Barish, or see all Noor Shaal novels and more Urdu afsanay.