rdu and Punjabi writer Neelum Ahmad Bashir was born on January 17, 1950, in Multan. Her father, Ahmad Bashir, was a journalist and writer. Her paternal aunt, Perveen Atif, too, was a writer. Her sister, Bushra Ansari, is an eminent television performer. Neelum graduated from Lady Griffin Railway Girls High School in 1966; earned a BA from Lahore College for Women in 1970; and obtained an MA in psychology from Punjab University in 1972.

That same year, she married Dr Siraj Siddiqui and moved to the United States, where she spent fourteen years. Upon returning to Pakistan, she began writing short stories. Her debut short story, Ijazat, was published in Takhliq in 1987. She also worked for the advertising industry, where she wrote Urdu copy.

Growing up she was never taught to suppress her thoughts or emotions. Instead, she and her siblings lent their voices to many who faced severe condemnation, both from the pulpit and in enclosed societal spaces.A

A highly skilled creative artist, she looks beyond the external markers of her characters – such as their profession, attire and apparent social roles – and delves deep into their inner complexity, exploring the nuances that make them profoundly human.

For instance, in the short story Maan, she captures the devotion of a dance teacher to her art, her struggle to overcome social barriers that prevent girls from enrolling in her class, and the distinct, aching pain in her joints—a burden not share by others. Ultimately, the story reveals a paradox: the mother, despite being a dance teacher, wants her daughter to lead a conventional domestic life. “I never wanted to live to see a day when I, as a mother, would have to tell my daughter – just book one or two more shows, and then I won’t ask again. After all, this month’s rent and the milkman’s bill are still pending. Just one more film; just one more; one more.”

In another short story, Sharif, Bashir challenges societal perceptions of morality and virtue. Nayi Dastak is a bold and significant contribution to feminist literature, both in theme and expression. The story challenges the traditional expectation that a woman should passively endure suffering in marriage, arguing instead that she possesses a greater capacity than a man to preserve the depth of her emotional and physical experiences and to make them beautiful. Mardon Vaala Kaam addresses the grim reality of domestic violence, where many mothers-in-law and exhausted husbands resort to fatal “oil-stove explosions” as a means of eliminating unwanted women.

“Every person has their own tale, a unique, strange kind of story within which they are born, draw breath and are buried, entering the netherworld of extinction.”

Bashir also explores the international cultural landscape, reflecting on the experience of Pakistani families that emigrate temporarily. Separated from their loved ones, they grieve for their sorrows yet cannot truly keep them close – nor can they return to them. At best, they can send them ‘juicers and massagers’ as tokens of their distant concern.

One of the most harrowing stories in Bashir’s latest collection, Piya Milan, is Zaqoom, named after an infernal tree mentioned in the Quran, whose fruit is said to resemble the heads of devils and monstrous serpents. The story is set during the month of Ramazan. It powerfully critiques the hypocrisy of those who, blinded by their greed for paradise, remain oblivious to the true spirit of faith, their words and actions steeped in contradiction.

Says Neelum, “All my life, I made the story a companion but could never tell the tale of my own heart. I kept thinking that I was taking the story along when it was the story that was taking me along. It was the sorceress’s familiar routine. Every person has their own tale, a unique, strange kind of story within which they are born, draw breath and then are buried, entering the netherworld of extinction…my wish is to be recognised as one who sits spinning the wheel, spinning stories. This recognition is the honour I seek, till the time when a loud-mouthed wave of the sea rises and removes my foothold. Only the story remains.”

Neelahaten (Majmua Neelum Ahmad Bashir

Neelum Kahanian)

Author: Neelum Ahmad Bashir

Publisher:

Sang-e-Meel Publications, Lahore

Pages: 804

The reviewer is a Lahore-based critic, translator and researcher. He is currently translating Mumtaz Shireen’s short stories and unfinished autobiography. He may be reached at razanaeem@hotmail.com. He tweets @raza_naeem1979