ISLAMABAD: Zambeel Dramatic Readings presented a tribute to Ismat Chughtai and Qurratulain Hyder referred to in the Islamabad Literature Festival’s programme as Lady Changez Khan and Pom Pom Darling, nicknames that each writer had given the other.

The Zambeel group selected what are amongst the most exquisite short stories written in modern Urdu literature, Nazara Darmiyaan Hai and Ghoongat by QurratulainHyder and Ismat Chughtai respectively.

Asma Mundrawala is a visual artist and theatre practitioner whose association with theatre began with Tehreek-i-Niswan in 1977.

Mahvash Faruqi is an educator with a background in theatre for the past 15 years.

Ghoonghat was read by Ms Mundrawala and Ms Faruqi to great effect. The story is about the beginning and end of a marriage that never begins as the groom decides on the wedding day that the bride must lift her own veil. Unable to comply, whether out of obstinacy or inability to break with custom the gorgeous young bride spends her entire life waiting for her husband to return only to have him come home to die.

A fabulous sketch of delusion and pride, lost opportunities and time, the story creates breathing characters through what are essentially just three instances when a husband demands that his wife lift veil.

Nazara Darmiyan Hai saw the addition of Fawad Khan, a graduate from National Academy of Performing Arts, to the performers. Qurratulain Hyder, who is one of the most masterful writers of recent years, has been compared with Milan Kundera and Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Her short story is an intricate tale of love and betrayal. Set in Bombay, the story drew the audience into the lives of Khurshid Aalam, Almaas Begum and Peroja Dastoor through the eyes of the housemaid Tara Bai.

A riveted audience was fascinated by the dramatic readings, an unusual activity in Islamabad, where theatre normally takes the form of elaborate plays. Their appreciation for both performers and Urdu literature rose with the session.

Dr. Abdul Rauf said: “Their selection and performance were brilliant and even the way the background music was put together was very appropriate to the mood of the stories.”

Sarmad Shaikh said: “One hardly gets to hear such a precise and beautiful Urdu accent in spoken word in Islamabad. Also it was energetic and thoroughly entertaining. What masterful delivery!”

Published in Dawn, April 16th, 2016