Sitamgar Ko Hum Aziz by Aymen Nouman

About this novel

Sitamgar Ko Hum Aziz by Aymen Nauman is a long Urdu romance that opens with a terrifying fire on a dark night. It then moves into the noisy, happy preparations for a family wedding.

The novel begins with a cry for help. “Bachao! Koi to hamari madad karo.” A woman is holding her two children to her chest, weeping and calling out to anyone who might help. The whole farmhouse is wrapped in flames after a gas cylinder exploded. On the phone, a man tells her he is coming and to stay where she is. She begs him to turn back, afraid he will be caught too, and watches death come closer moment by moment while both children have already fainted from the heat. The man fights through the flames trying to reach them. When he asks about his daughter, she opens her mouth to answer, and the fire reaches them too. Aymen Nauman then asks: who knew whether this was really an accident, or something else?

The next section is completely different. Wedding fever has taken over the house. Aima’s wedding festivities started fifteen days ago, and her sister Ayesha has filled the home with life. A dholki was set up a week ahead, and every night until late the young people make so much noise that the whole “young party” sleeps until noon.

At twelve o’clock, their mother, Saeeda Begum, scolds both sisters in front of all the cousins who have come for the wedding. Aima and Ayesha hug her and promise to wake up early every day, then sleep in again the next morning. A day before the wedding, Ayesha is happily frying gulgulay for the ratjaga with her dupatta tied around her waist. Saeeda Begum has made both her daughters skilled in housework, and Aymen Nauman fills these pages with warm family humour while the mystery of the fire waits in the background.

کچھ حادثے صرف حادثے نہیں ہوتے، ان کے پیچھے راز چھپے ہوتے ہیں۔

Read more by Aymen Nauman: Muhabbat Barsa Dena Tu, Tu Kitni Masoom Hai and Kabhi To Paas Mere Aao, or see all Aymen Nauman novels.