Piyasa Kavwa By Salman

About this afsana

Piyasa Kavwa by Salman is a short Urdu afsana that retells the old thirsty-crow story everyone learned as a child. It turns that childhood tale into a new lesson about gratitude and accepting who you are.

A crow lives in a nest on the highest branch of a banyan tree on the western edge of a forest, near a river that is always full of water. Every day he watches a fisherman catching fish, and he sighs: “Ya Ilahi, yeh machera kis qadar khush naseeb hai, iske paas haath bhi hain aur paon bhi.” Humans are so lucky, he thinks, while crows have only two thin legs and a black colour, and every animal in the jungle looks down on them. “Main bhi insaan banna chahta hoon,” he cries.

As the days pass, his thirst to become human only grows. This is the thirst of the title, not for water but for a different life. When he tells his friends, they laugh at him and mock him. Then a pair of pigeons builds a nest on a neem tree near the banyan. The male pigeon is older and very kind, always ready to help, and the two soon become good friends, flying together and sharing everything.

When the crow finally shares his wish, the pigeon does not laugh. Instead he tells him about Zagh, a wise old bird who lives in a cave in the snowy mountains, where the pigeon himself used to live. After a month-long journey the crow reaches the cave and finds Zagh sitting by burning torches, busy with his tasbeeh, completely white, shaped like a crow but much bigger, and very old. The crow waits patiently, greets him and explains why he has come. Zagh looks at him angrily and asks, “Khuda ki pasand ko tu apne liye ghalat samajhta hai?” Salman uses this simple fable to make a point that stays with you.

جو رب نے بنایا ہے، اسی میں ہماری بہتری چھپی ہوتی ہے۔

Read more short stories by the same writer: Sada, Saat Samundar Paar Raha Mera Dil and Talsum Araa, or see all Salman Daieem novels and more Urdu afsanay.