Uljhay Bandhan By Hamna Tanveer

About this novel

Uljhe Bandhan by Hamna Tanveer is a long Urdu novel about complicated relationships and the hidden motives behind them. It explores the tangled ties between people who seem close on the surface, and the title means tangled bonds.

The novel opens at night. Ahmed walks towards a house with heavy steps while darkness wraps everything around it. The palace-like home, built on two kanals, is glittering with lights, and Hamna Tanveer notes that it is even more colourful inside than out. Running a hand through his hair, Ahmed reaches the inner door and pushes it open. The scent of a woman’s perfume hits him. Unusually, no one is in sight today.

“Afshan kahan hai?” he asks a servant, who tells him madam is upstairs in her room and moves on with his tray. The writer describes the huge lounge in detail: sofas in the centre, long curtains falling in front of the windows on the left, wooden stairs on the right and black marble on the walls.

Without knocking, Ahmed opens the first door and walks in. Afshan is standing at her dressing table, fixing her hair. He leans against the doorway, arms crossed, watching her. She is wearing an elegant maroon sari, her black hair cut in steps and resting on her shoulders, with golden lenses over her eyes. Slim and smart, she looks much younger than her age, and the sari suits her tall frame. Ahmed smiles at the sight of her, and she turns and walks towards him gracefully. “Aaj tum jaldi kyun aa gaye?” she asks. He was free, he says, and thought he would come and see her.

Hamna Tanveer also describes Ahmed: brown trousers, a white shirt and a brown sweater, a dark complexion, a light, neat beard, stylish hair and a smile that wins people over. When he jokes about leaving because she has gone quiet, Afshan frowns, asks if she could ever send him away, and smiles as she invites him to sit. The title promises tangled bonds, and this first meeting already leaves readers wondering what ties these two together.

کچھ رشتے سلجھتے نہیں، بس وقت کے ساتھ اور الجھتے جاتے ہیں۔

Read more by Hamna Tanveer: Ye Ishq, Sulagti Rahein and Tawaif, or see all Hamna Tanveer novels.