اتوار کے خط

ہر اتوار، چند خط، اُن میں سے چنے ہوئے جنہیں اُن کے لکھنے والوں نے دنیا کے پڑھنے کے لیے کھلا چھوڑا۔

اتوار، 11 اکتوبر، 2026

01شکریہ
⁨Grace⁩ کے نام
Houston · 2021
Grace, my mother died at ten past four in the morning, and you were the one holding her other hand. I had been gone two minutes, only to the bathroom, and I have hated those two minutes ever since, except that when I came back you were there, sitting on the edge of her bed in your blue scrubs, humming something, holding her hand as if you had all the time in the world. You told me she wasn't alone. You told me she…
پڑھیں
02الوداع
⁨Ellie⁩ کے نام
Vancouver · 2023
Ellie, we were right to stop, and I want to say thank you before I say goodbye. Three years of setting alarms for each other's evenings. Three years of watching you eat breakfast while I ate dinner, of holding the phone to the window to show you my rain while you showed me your snow. We got so good at the distance that we forgot to ask whether we were good at anything else. I'm not angry. Most days I'm not even sad.…
پڑھیں
03تڑپ
⁨Priya⁩ کے نام
Mumbai · 2018
Priya, you laughed the whole time. Six hours in water up to our knees and you told me the plot of every film you had ever seen, badly, on purpose, until the whole compartment was laughing with you. I got off at Dadar and realised I never asked your number. Every monsoon since, I look for you on that train.
پڑھیں
04شکریہ
⁨Rosa⁩ کے نام
Guadalajara · 2001
Maestra Rosa, yo era la niña que llegaba sin desayunar, y usted lo sabía. Nunca me lo dijo. Solo dejaba un pan dulce en mi pupitre antes de que sonara la campana, como si alguien lo hubiera olvidado ahí. Durante dos años, alguien lo olvidó ahí todas las mañanas. Me enseñó a leer en voz alta sin que me temblara la voz, y me regaló aquel libro que todavía tengo, con su letra en la primera página. Hoy soy maestra. En mi…
پڑھیں
05الوداع
⁨Faisal⁩ کے نام
Lahore · 2021
Faisal bhai, aap ki kursi pe ab ek naya larka baithta hai jo headphones laga kar kaam karta hai. Woh acha hai, tez hai, lekin raat ke do baje chai ke liye awaaz nahi lagata. Aap ne mujhe pehle hi hafte bata diya tha ke akhbar mein sab se zaroori cheez khabar nahi, saath kaam karne wale hote hain, kyunke khabar to subah tak purani ho jaati hai. Aap retire hue to hum ne cake kaata, taaliyan bajayin, aur mein ne kuch…
پڑھیں
06معافی
⁨Naveed⁩ کے نام
Faisalabad · 2022
Abbu, I watched your hands at my cousin's wedding and couldn't stop looking at them. They were only holding a cup of tea, but I remembered all at once that they were the same hands that gripped the handlebars of the rickshaw from six in the evening until two in the morning for four years, so that I could sit in a lecture hall and be bored. I never thanked you. Worse: in my first year, when my new friends were…
پڑھیں
07شکریہ
⁨Ali⁩ کے نام
Karachi · 2014
Ali, you were the first friend I ever had in that school. When my father lost his job you split your paratha with me every single day, and you never once made it feel like charity. We moved away before I could say thank you. I am a teacher now. There is a boy in my class who reminds me of me, and I split my lunch with him.
پڑھیں

…

اتوار، 11 اکتوبر، 2026

01شکریہ

⁨Grace⁩ کے نام

Houston · 2021

Grace, my mother died at ten past four in the morning, and you were the one holding her other hand. I had been gone two minutes, only to the bathroom, and I have hated those two minutes ever since, except that when I came back you were there, sitting on the edge of her bed in your blue scrubs, humming something, holding her hand as if you had all the time in the world. You told me she wasn't alone. You told me she…

پڑھیں

02الوداع

⁨Ellie⁩ کے نام

Vancouver · 2023

Ellie, we were right to stop, and I want to say thank you before I say goodbye. Three years of setting alarms for each other's evenings. Three years of watching you eat breakfast while I ate dinner, of holding the phone to the window to show you my rain while you showed me your snow. We got so good at the distance that we forgot to ask whether we were good at anything else. I'm not angry. Most days I'm not even sad.…

پڑھیں

03تڑپ

⁨Priya⁩ کے نام

Mumbai · 2018

Priya, you laughed the whole time. Six hours in water up to our knees and you told me the plot of every film you had ever seen, badly, on purpose, until the whole compartment was laughing with you. I got off at Dadar and realised I never asked your number. Every monsoon since, I look for you on that train.

پڑھیں

04شکریہ

⁨Rosa⁩ کے نام

Guadalajara · 2001

Maestra Rosa, yo era la niña que llegaba sin desayunar, y usted lo sabía. Nunca me lo dijo. Solo dejaba un pan dulce en mi pupitre antes de que sonara la campana, como si alguien lo hubiera olvidado ahí. Durante dos años, alguien lo olvidó ahí todas las mañanas. Me enseñó a leer en voz alta sin que me temblara la voz, y me regaló aquel libro que todavía tengo, con su letra en la primera página. Hoy soy maestra. En mi…

پڑھیں

05الوداع

⁨Faisal⁩ کے نام

Lahore · 2021

Faisal bhai, aap ki kursi pe ab ek naya larka baithta hai jo headphones laga kar kaam karta hai. Woh acha hai, tez hai, lekin raat ke do baje chai ke liye awaaz nahi lagata. Aap ne mujhe pehle hi hafte bata diya tha ke akhbar mein sab se zaroori cheez khabar nahi, saath kaam karne wale hote hain, kyunke khabar to subah tak purani ho jaati hai. Aap retire hue to hum ne cake kaata, taaliyan bajayin, aur mein ne kuch…

پڑھیں

06معافی

⁨Naveed⁩ کے نام

Faisalabad · 2022

Abbu, I watched your hands at my cousin's wedding and couldn't stop looking at them. They were only holding a cup of tea, but I remembered all at once that they were the same hands that gripped the handlebars of the rickshaw from six in the evening until two in the morning for four years, so that I could sit in a lecture hall and be bored. I never thanked you. Worse: in my first year, when my new friends were…

پڑھیں

07شکریہ

⁨Ali⁩ کے نام

Karachi · 2014

Ali, you were the first friend I ever had in that school. When my father lost his job you split your paratha with me every single day, and you never once made it feel like charity. We moved away before I could say thank you. I am a teacher now. There is a boy in my class who reminds me of me, and I split my lunch with him.

پڑھیں