Daily Times

Paras is a short suspense, thriller novel by Nimra Ahmed. It published right after Jannat Ke Patte. It is a short novel as compared to Namal and Jannat Ke Patte consisting of only 208 pages and was published first in August 2014. It took the young writer almost six years to complete it because she wanted to write it perfectly and it’s a light piece of fiction and should not be compared to her other piece of writings. It basically revolves around a murder.

The novel has basically eight main characters in which Paras and Faizan are in main leads. Paras lives with her step mother and step brother. Rizwan is an old aged man who has a sister, Sawera and brother, Faizan and his trusted man Tanveer. He loves his siblings very much. This story revolves around the idea that how selfish people can be for their own perks. The theme of the story is that of betrayal, revenge, hatred, selfishness and rancour. I must clear one thing that Nimra Ahmed has beautifully twisted the story and while unfolding the layers, the point where you think that you understand things is the point where the real twist will start.

Rizwan meets the love of his life in a restaurant with a cockroach lurking in between and it’s only after this meeting, that Paras and him become closer and get married. But Rizwan’s family doesn’t accept the girl owing to greed and thirst for money.

Rizwan meets the love of his life in a restaurant with a cockroach lurking in between and it’s only after this meeting, that they become closer and eventually get married. But Rizwan’s family doesn’t accept the girl owing to greed and thirst for money

Personally, I found the character of Shujaw, Paras’s neighbour and former fiancé, as the most unpredictable. Paras and her husband Rizwan, both face betrayal and both feel used by their loved ones. Rizwan suddenly dies by falling from stairs. But actually, he doesn’t die. He’s only checking how his siblings react to the news.

Keeping in mind that Paras is just in her mid-20s and it’s only been a month and a half to her marriage, has she really killed her husband or was it an accident?

While investigating, Rizwan’s brother Faizan comes to know this by changing his identity by naming himself Fahiz. He also wants to kill Paras but stops thinking she can’t do it for the property. Paras’s own parents had tried to kill her but she escaped.

It becomes hard for Paras to act like a widow but she still has to go ahead with it owing to her love for Rizwan. But at the end, the truth comes out which is really shocking but what is the truth? Rizwan gets to know from that day onwards, that no matter how financially strong or physically powerful your loved ones maybe, when you need them, they’re not there.

I would really suggest you this book. The scenic locations of Murree tempt you to visit and explore Pakistan’s north and also through this book, one gets to understand relationships better.

Published in Daily Times, February 20^th 2019.