Novel Ilm-o-Irfam, Lahore 2006 783 Pages Rs. 550

Editor’s Review

Title:- Man-o-Salwa
Author:- Umerah Ahmed
Pages:-783

“Stop running after one flower you haven’t got in life. Allah has kept a big basket of flowers for you. He is just making you wait for the right time”

Man-o-salwa, a heart-touching and blockbuster novel (also telecasted on HUM TV) by Umerah Ahmed. Basically the concept of the word “Mano-Salwa” is something which is beneficial and easily achieved but because of its easy achievement it loose worth in ones eyes. Its human nature to go for the desires which are either beyond our reach or for which we acquire shortcuts/unlawful means and the end result for both the cases is unsatisfied and tragic life. In the struggle and haste to earn more and more worldly wishes a times arrives when we find lack of love, care and sincere feelings in the life but ALAS!! We have nothing but to regret. The writer in this story conveys the messages on importance of “ Rizq-e-halal ” in life. Now days unfortunately we get to see a lot of people around us who instead of being thankful to Allah for the blessing of Rizq-e-halal are always complaining to him for never giving them enough.

Mano-salwa is the story of greed, corruption, deceit, love, trust and emotions. It is an unforgettable tale of the heavy price one has to pay for taking shortcuts and resorting to unlawful means. The story revolves around two main characters namely Zainab, and Sheraz. Sheraz is a young, intelligent, talented but materialistic person who is always looking for shortcuts to earn money and status in his life. In order to achieve his pessimistic goal he decides to break his engagement with his innocent cousin Zainab by defaming her character. He clearly knew that marrying Zainab will only give him a beautiful lady with good character and qualities and nothing else. Later Sheraz marries a beautiful lady with lots of money and of course his dream comes true ,but he always feels himself living in hell. Disappointed by the rejection (blame on her character) Zainab decides to go for modeling and film industry. To her this is the easiest way to earn money in short time. Despite of her family opposition she steps into the field where she earns everything besides respect and character. No solace, no satisfaction in her life. Sheraz and Zainab fail to acheive anything in their life aside from the regret and the guilt.

I should strongly recommend this novel to all avid readers of Urdu literature. I am sure that it has power to reshape/ strengthen our feelings and thoughts about the impact of rizq-e-halal in life.