Short Story: Murado Bibi by Syed Hassan Askari

In this short story, Syed Hassan Askari narrates the tale of a mother and daughter struggling to survive in a patriarchal society to the point where their lives become one despite being born decades apart.

History repeats itself so does the life of Murado Bibi, who for the second time, in the last two years, sees her daughter Parveen Bibi in her bridal dress. The day is happy but tragic for them because both share the same fate. This day reminds Murado of the day of her rukhsati for the second time. She sinks deep into the memories of her fated life. All those memories of her tragic life float on the wings of the past and enter the mind of Murado Bibi. Her memories are just like a cup of tea filled to the brim and she is ready to dive into them. Her mind is filled with a flood of memories that ruined her life. She looks like a living statue in the humdrum of the crowd while unconsciously comparing her fated life with Parveen’s life. She is in the grip of her past nostalgia and she recollects all her life’s incidents just as memories are recollected in Wordsworth’s poetic process.