Wanni By Noor Sehar

About this afsana

Wanni (Urdu: ونی) by Noor Sehar is an Urdu afsana in three parts about Munno, a loved only daughter forced into a nikah she never chose. Her father tells her to prepare for the wedding, because otherwise he will be preparing for her brother’s funeral.

It opens on a sad winter evening. Until yesterday everything was fine, the writer says, but no one knows what the next day will bring. Munno looks at her father in disbelief: “Abba, aap hi to dua mangte thay ke Allah meri Munno ko koi dukh na de.” So why is he doing this? Munawar Ahsan can only lower his head.

بھائی کے کیے کی سزا، اور ایک بیٹی جس کا فیصلہ کسی اور نے لکھ دیا۔

Noor Sehar then shows how precious Munno has always been. She was born fourteen years after her brothers, the daughter her father had prayed for, and her brothers carried her all over the village like a little doll. Her grandmother scolded them for it, and her father laughed and said she was both brothers’ doll and they must never let her break.

Now her brother Wajahat has done something her father can’t forgive. Munno insists that he only used a right their religion gives him, the right to choose, and tells her father not to listen to what people say. Her mother Zareen pulls her away before she says more. Munawar Ahsan’s answer is final: she can prepare herself for the nikah, or for her other brother Mohid’s funeral. The title says the rest. Wanni is the custom of handing a girl over to settle another family’s dispute.

It’s a short, painful story that puts a human face on wanni and swara-style customs. The PDF runs to 311 pages because of its large print.

You can read Wanni online here or download the complete PDF for free. For more short stories, see our Urdu afsanay, or read Janay Na Tu by Ana Ilyas, another story about what feudal customs do to girls.