Phiray Darbadar Teri Chah Lye by Samaa Chaudhary

About this novelette

Phiray Darbadar Teri Chah Liye (Urdu: پھرے دربدر تیری چاہ لیے) by Samaa Chaudhary is a short Urdu romance about a man who cannot let go of a lost love. Mashari still searches for the girl he lost years ago, while Aweza quietly trusts that her fate will come at the right time.

The story opens with an old Kishore Kumar song playing in a dimly lit room, its sad melody deepening the silence. The man who has been staring at a picture on the wall, lost in its charm, has tears that won’t stop. He turns to the window; the weather has changed, and black clouds have gathered into a downpour that has been falling without pause.

His mother, Khanum, comes in and gently tells Mashari to close the window or he’ll fall ill. “The sky has gone quiet, but my eyes won’t stop for her,” he murmurs. Khanum reminds him that the girl may be married by now, that she must have moved on, and asks how long he will keep this up. Mashari’s answer is firm: “No, Ammi, she can’t be married – how can I strangle the faith of my love? I’ve decided: I’ll go and find her.” Khanum, worried for her son, knows how stubborn he is in love. Love, the writer reflects, is a strange intoxication: when the beloved runs through the veins like blood, a person rebels against every relationship, and fear loses its meaning.

برستی بارش، دیوار پر ایک تصویر، اور ایک ضدی عاشق کا فیصلہ۔

The scene then moves to another home. “Aweza, do you like someone?” her mother Ishrat asks gently. Her father is worried, she explains – good proposals don’t come so easily, and daughters’ ages pass by. Aweza holds her mother’s hands and answers wisely: nobody gets anything before its time or more than their fate allows; when it’s written, the match will come, so why worry? Ishrat, eyes wet, prays for her daughter’s naseeb and leaves the room.

Samaa Chaudhary writes with poetry and longing, and the title – “wandering from door to door in search of you” – sums up Mashari’s devotion.

You can read Phiray Darbadar Teri Chah Liye online here or download the complete PDF for free. More by Samaa Chaudhary: Tell Me Your Name, Jo Milay Thay Rastay Main and Ishq Ki Pehli Barish, or see all Samaa Chaudhary novels.