This book is in Urdu language. In this anthology, there are 18 short stories by the Urdu master writer A Hafeez, depicting his very interesting interactions with people of various ethnic, religious, and cultural backgrounds, each sampling a section of the British multi-cultural society.
Interacting with people as a housing officer, solving their housing issues, and interpreter in their court cases for domestic violence, divorces, or criminal conduct, Mr Hafeez develops profound socio-psychological insight into the characters' personalities. Reading their stories, one notes how valuable these are in social research as they highlight socio-psychological traits of the characters coming from hotchpotch backgrounds trying to integrate into the mainstream British fabric or stay aloof, some even detesting it and some trying to milk it for monetary gain and benefits.
To provide a glimpse of what the reader can expect to see in these stories, three have been summarised below:
Yeh Apnay (Our own people)
This story starts with a telephone call to the housing department made by a homeless young man whose in-laws had brought him over from Pakistan after arranging his marriage with their daughter but then, in a few years, thrown him out of their home. From picking the young man from a park bench where he slept in cold weather, and finding a council property for him, the story details the nitty gritty of the relationships that Pakistani immigrants form, seeing each other as their own kind, helping each other, doing favours, and expressing gratitude to each other, thus forming a cultural solidarity among them.
What's Age Got to do with Love
A fit Asian lad and an elderly white woman cohabiting brought unwelcome gestures from their neighbours but when they came to the housing department seeking relocation, a bearded Pakistani housing officer had a culture shock. Coming from a parochial culture where the wife must be younger than the husband for the marriage to be considered "normal," and love generally means sex, the officer projects his own conditioning in trying to imagine and construe love-making scenes in the couple's bedroom. Upon reminding that this could become a media scandal if the couple's housing needs are not met, the officer suggests an action plan to invite all parties of interest to the conference room, listen to everyone, decide, and then stick to it. However, the couple are so uninterested that they just walk out.
Alien in One's Own Country
Contrary to the common perception of "white racism," a young English girl phones the housing department that her Pakistani neighbours, a family with four kids, are harassing her, demanding that she vacate her council house and go live somewhere else. The intimidation has been growing daily. The irony is that, upon investigation, it is found that although the Pakistani family had been allotted the council house as asylum seekers, unable to tolerate their English neighbour's liberal lifestyle, they wanted her to leave the area. Upon intervention, the bullies try to intimidate the housing officer too until they see the police coming to his assistance.
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