Short Stories by A Hafeez

<p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>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.</span></p><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>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.</span></p><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>To provide a glimpse of what the reader can expect to see in these stories three have been summarised below:</span></p><p><strong style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Yeh Apnay (Our own people)</strong></p><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>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.</span></p><p><strong style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>What's Age Got to do with Love</strong></p><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>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.</span></p><p><strong style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Alien in One's Own Country</strong></p><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>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.</span></p>