Mjhe Watan Ki Mitti Chahiye By Sahar Noor

About this novelette

Mujhe Watan Ki Mitti Chahiye (Urdu: مجھے وطن کی مٹی چاہیے) by Sahar Noor is a short Urdu Eid special and army story inspired by soldier Maqbool Hussain. It follows a young man on his way into the Pakistan Army and the cousin who never stops teasing him.

The writer explains her purpose at the start: the central idea of the story comes from the biography of sepoy Maqbool Hussain, and it is a small attempt to pay tribute to all the soldiers of Pakistan who stand ready to sacrifice everything for their homeland.

The story itself begins playfully. Shahvez is studying with his head buried in his books when Hamna bursts in with a “Bhao!” and he snaps at her for disturbing him. “What’s your problem? Mind your own business,” he says. Hamna sits down calmly on the bed and teases him: he finds no peace without picking on her, but he’ll never get through the army, because the army doesn’t take dried-up, grumpy people like him. Shahvez fires back, asking if she’s become an army officer herself that she knows so much. “Haan na,” she says dreamily – army soldiers are so handsome and dashing! She mimics him until he picks up a book as if to throw it at her and pushes her out of the room by the arm.

ایک فوجی بننے کا خواب، اور ہر بات پر چھیڑنے والی کزن۔

Then comes good news: Shahvez has not only passed his ISSB exams but has also cleared the academic and medical tests. “May Allah protect my son from the evil eye,” Sabiha Begum says, mashallah-ing over him. Spotting Hamna, Shahvez jokes that something smells like it’s burning, and she retorts that she has no reason to be jealous. When he reminds everyone that people said a dried-up man like him would never be taken into the army, Hamna admits to her Khala that she hadn’t expected the army’s choice to be so bad. Sabiha Begum sighs that they’re always fighting – who knows what will become of the two of them later, when they can’t get along for even a moment? “What do you mean, later?” Shahvez asks. “Hasn’t your Baba told you?”

Sahar Noor blends patriotism, family love and a sweet cousin romance into a short, heartfelt read.

You can read Mujhe Watan Ki Mitti Chahiye online here or download the complete PDF for free. You may also like Wo Jo Qaraz Rakhty Thy Jaan Par and Kaif E Baharan, or browse more army Urdu novels.