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Yaram
Yaaram (English: My Beloved) is a tale of blind, selfless and unconditional love, friendship, devotion and loyalty.
Amarha, hailing from Pakistan is accepted into Manchester University. There she meets Aliyan, a British Muslim who is the center of everybody's attention. Both are broken souls, bearers of terrible burdens but when they meet, their fates are forever intertwined.
It was first published in Shuaa Digest: July 2014-March 2015.
Amarha, hailing from Pakistan is accepted into Manchester University. There she meets Aliyan, a British Muslim who is the center of everybody's attention. Both are broken souls, bearers of terrible burdens but when they meet, their fates are forever intertwined.
It was first published in Shuaa Digest: July 2014-March 2015.
Hardcover
First published July 1, 2014
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August 5, 2016
“A Tale of Aliyan and Amarha.”
"اختتام وقت کا ہو يا کسی عمل کا، کتنا بھی خوشگوار ہو، دکھی کر جاتا ہے۔ کسی بھی چيز کا ختم ہو جانا دل پر آری چلا جاتا ہے۔"
(The end, whether of a period of time or of some act, no matter how pleasant, hurts. The culmination of anything is like ripping of the heart with a chainsaw.)
You know you’ve found THE book when it makes you experience every emotion there is with full force or, as people say, gives you the feels. Give me the feels, it did. I used to be super proud of the fact that no book has ever managed to make me cry. It still didn’t but what happened was worse. It actually physically hurt. While reading this I repeatedly got the feeling of plunging from a great height. My stomach did unpleasant somersaults. My heart sank so many times I lost count.
ايک لڑکی ہے امرحہ۔۔۔
شہر روشن۔۔۔
شہر قلم کار۔۔۔
شہر بے مثال لاہور سے۔۔۔
Amarha is a Pakistani girl who is a source of pain and is cursed according to her family. A series of unfortunate events right after her birth lead her family to believe this preposterous assumption. So much so that all her life she is verbally abused and made fun of. By all, except her grandfather. She is desperate, she is lonely and there is nothing she wants more in the world than change. She applies for a scholarship in Manchester University and is accepted. Thus begins her journey of change, courage, confidence and most importantly, of love.
ايک لڑکا ہے عاليان۔۔۔
شہر جمال۔۔۔
شہر افکار۔۔۔
شہر لازوال مانچسٹر سے۔۔۔۔
Aliyan, a British Muslim, is also studying at Manchester University. His path collides with Amarha’s and he is lost forever. Aliyan was different. He was a broken soul who had suffered nothing but pain and loss as a child. He was put back together by a kind woman, who became his adoptive mother and under her guidance he was transformed into a beautiful human being. He was kind, patient and loyal but also sensitive. His love for Amarha was blind and he was tormented because of it.
اور ايک محبت ہے۔۔۔
جہاں بے مثال۔۔۔
جہاں لازوال۔۔۔
جہاں جاوداں سے۔۔۔
Amarha did not make it easy. The neglect in her upbringing, her complexes and some preconceived and misguided societal notions made her commit mistakes that caused her and Aliyan anguish. And me too. I have said this before, it was painful to read. I loved it.
"تم سے محبت مجھ پر فرض ہے۔"
"اور اس فرض کو ميں کبھی قضا نھيں ہونے دوں گی۔"
اور روشنيوں نے اپنے سارے ماخذ ڈھونڈ نکالے۔
ايک امرحہ اور ايک عاليان سے۔
I melted. Again. Somebody put me back together. This mushy stuff will destroy my brain.
The last episode or part was a test for me. Not only because I was about to say goodbye to these characters but also because I was encountering a problem. Incidental, but a problem nonetheless. It was dragged. The actual story moved forward two lines then the writer started comparing the situation to a fairytale or something in a paragraph of poetic flowery-ness. I find purple prose difficult in English but in Urdu it becomes downright insufferable. It’s too complex and lyrical. 2 lines in the real world, 20 lines in the fantasy world. I got through it with barely concealed irritation.
"اسباق سے گھبرانا نھيں چاہيۓ۔ يہ کتنے بھی تلخ ہوں حکيم لقمان کی حکمت ليۓ ہو تے ہيں۔ بلا معاوضہ حکمت دے جاتے ہيں۔"
"بلنديوں پر جدوجہد سے پہلے عزم کمنديں ڈالتا ہے۔"
"جو لوگ تلخ حقيقتيں جاننے کی کوشش نھيں کرتے وہ انہيں بدلنے کی اہليت بھی نھيں رکھتے۔"
"دادا نے اسے بار بار کہا تھا کہ زندگی ميں سب کرنا ليکن اپنی زبان کو دوسرے نمبر پر لانے کی گستاخی نہ کرنا۔"
"اختتام وقت کا ہو يا کسی عمل کا، کتنا بھی خوشگوار ہو، دکھی کر جاتا ہے۔ کسی بھی چيز کا ختم ہو جانا دل پر آری چلا جاتا ہے۔"
(The end, whether of a period of time or of some act, no matter how pleasant, hurts. The culmination of anything is like ripping of the heart with a chainsaw.)
Damn straight. So this is exactly how I felt when I finished this last night. I kept tossing and turning all night and the words from the story kept circling in my head. The tossing and turning might have been from the burning fever I was in but this book has grown so close to my heart I guess I’ll never know.
You know you’ve found THE book when it makes you experience every emotion there is with full force or, as people say, gives you the feels. Give me the feels, it did. I used to be super proud of the fact that no book has ever managed to make me cry. It still didn’t but what happened was worse. It actually physically hurt. While reading this I repeatedly got the feeling of plunging from a great height. My stomach did unpleasant somersaults. My heart sank so many times I lost count.
ايک لڑکی ہے امرحہ۔۔۔
شہر روشن۔۔۔
شہر قلم کار۔۔۔
شہر بے مثال لاہور سے۔۔۔
Amarha is a Pakistani girl who is a source of pain and is cursed according to her family. A series of unfortunate events right after her birth lead her family to believe this preposterous assumption. So much so that all her life she is verbally abused and made fun of. By all, except her grandfather. She is desperate, she is lonely and there is nothing she wants more in the world than change. She applies for a scholarship in Manchester University and is accepted. Thus begins her journey of change, courage, confidence and most importantly, of love.
It reminded me bit at first of Jannat Kay Pattay where the heroine also travels abroad to study but this is where the similarities end. Amarha was a great character but she wasn’t loveable. She was great because she was terrifyingly relatable, she was naïve, she had a long way to go and a lot to learn and her journey of discoveries was real to me. I’ve never been angrier at someone’s stupidity before, I’ve never been more ashamed than after realizing that had I been her, I would have done what she did and I’ve never been happier than seeing where her destiny took her. Amarha’s logic while rejecting Aliyan while proved sound later was extremely infuriating and unconvincing at the time.
ايک لڑکا ہے عاليان۔۔۔
شہر جمال۔۔۔
شہر افکار۔۔۔
شہر لازوال مانچسٹر سے۔۔۔۔
Aliyan, a British Muslim, is also studying at Manchester University. His path collides with Amarha’s and he is lost forever. Aliyan was different. He was a broken soul who had suffered nothing but pain and loss as a child. He was put back together by a kind woman, who became his adoptive mother and under her guidance he was transformed into a beautiful human being. He was kind, patient and loyal but also sensitive. His love for Amarha was blind and he was tormented because of it.
اور ايک محبت ہے۔۔۔
جہاں بے مثال۔۔۔
جہاں لازوال۔۔۔
جہاں جاوداں سے۔۔۔
Amarha did not make it easy. The neglect in her upbringing, her complexes and some preconceived and misguided societal notions made her commit mistakes that caused her and Aliyan anguish. And me too. I have said this before, it was painful to read. I loved it.
"تم سے محبت مجھ پر فرض ہے۔"
"اور اس فرض کو ميں کبھی قضا نھيں ہونے دوں گی۔"
اور روشنيوں نے اپنے سارے ماخذ ڈھونڈ نکالے۔
ايک امرحہ اور ايک عاليان سے۔
I melted. Again. Somebody put me back together. This mushy stuff will destroy my brain.
Another wonderful aspect of the book was the depiction of friendship. Carl and Aliyan, Vera and Amarha, Sy and everyone, it was just incredible. Carl and Aliyan were frenemies, they were brothers who loved each other without admitting it, played pranks on each other, forgot and forgave. Their bond was strong and reading it was a pleasure. Carl’s innumerable pranks and jokes started getting to me. He just wouldn’t stop. Vera was such a kick-ass woman, 6 feet 2, Russian, athletic, physically and emotionally strong but a real softie. Her friendship with Amarha had its trials, mostly from Amarha’s side, but what they shared and experienced was the most profound feeling in the universe; pure, selfless, unadulterated love for another human being, for a friend. Sy was a sweetheart. He was the person completely and undoubtedly devoted to everyone, he listened, he kept secrets, he spread love. A strange and sad sense of kinship I felt for them. I wished and hoped that someday I’ll get friends like these.
The last episode or part was a test for me. Not only because I was about to say goodbye to these characters but also because I was encountering a problem. Incidental, but a problem nonetheless. It was dragged. The actual story moved forward two lines then the writer started comparing the situation to a fairytale or something in a paragraph of poetic flowery-ness. I find purple prose difficult in English but in Urdu it becomes downright insufferable. It’s too complex and lyrical. 2 lines in the real world, 20 lines in the fantasy world. I got through it with barely concealed irritation.
There were a lot of impressive quotes. Another important quality of a good book is that it inspires and encourages you and you learn. Minus that and you’re left with nothing but a means of escape or pleasure. It’ll be injustice to not mention those quotes:
"اسباق سے گھبرانا نھيں چاہيۓ۔ يہ کتنے بھی تلخ ہوں حکيم لقمان کی حکمت ليۓ ہو تے ہيں۔ بلا معاوضہ حکمت دے جاتے ہيں۔"
"بلنديوں پر جدوجہد سے پہلے عزم کمنديں ڈالتا ہے۔"
"جو لوگ تلخ حقيقتيں جاننے کی کوشش نھيں کرتے وہ انہيں بدلنے کی اہليت بھی نھيں رکھتے۔"
"دادا نے اسے بار بار کہا تھا کہ زندگی ميں سب کرنا ليکن اپنی زبان کو دوسرے نمبر پر لانے کی گستاخی نہ کرنا۔"
My-friends-you-bow-to-no-one is a sacred shelf. I don’t just put any book in there. It has to be special and after what I went through at the hands of Yaaram, it’s only fitting that it should be there. Thank you, Sumaira Hameed.
July 12, 2021
محبت کا ایک ہی پنجر ہے ”دنیا“
اس کا ایک ہی قصور ہے ”دنیا دار ہونا“
اس پنجر پر ایک ہی تالا لگتا ہے ”روایت کا“
Oh, For the first time I read a novel of Sumerah Hameed and I suppose she can compose a simple, boring story in a funny way that a reader could not get exhausted.
I will not appreciate the storyline and I bet I can complete the main plot of this book in 10th to 12th lines. The main theme of the book is love and friendship. I love the way she shows society's thinking and some flaws.
I love the characters of the book: Aliyan, the love interest. Amraha, the cry baby. Vera, the best friend. Carl, the agitator. Lady Meher, the savior of lost children.
The story begins with the character of Amraha, a frightened girl who's living a depressing life and was famous in her family for her bad luck. Due to her grandfather's support, she went to Manchester on a scholarship to live peacefully for some time. There she did a job to support herself financially. She was living a happy life and the uni fellow Aliyan, Apple of everyone's eye, falls in love with Amraha. The story moves on with funny scenes and the back story of Aliyan, with misconceptions.
Recommended for everyone.
اس کا ایک ہی قصور ہے ”دنیا دار ہونا“
اس پنجر پر ایک ہی تالا لگتا ہے ”روایت کا“
Oh, For the first time I read a novel of Sumerah Hameed and I suppose she can compose a simple, boring story in a funny way that a reader could not get exhausted.
I will not appreciate the storyline and I bet I can complete the main plot of this book in 10th to 12th lines. The main theme of the book is love and friendship. I love the way she shows society's thinking and some flaws.
I love the characters of the book: Aliyan, the love interest. Amraha, the cry baby. Vera, the best friend. Carl, the agitator. Lady Meher, the savior of lost children.
The story begins with the character of Amraha, a frightened girl who's living a depressing life and was famous in her family for her bad luck. Due to her grandfather's support, she went to Manchester on a scholarship to live peacefully for some time. There she did a job to support herself financially. She was living a happy life and the uni fellow Aliyan, Apple of everyone's eye, falls in love with Amraha. The story moves on with funny scenes and the back story of Aliyan, with misconceptions.
Recommended for everyone.
May 6, 2018
Ah, high-school dramas, college dramas, uni dramas. Who doesn’t love those? They are the phases of our lives where young adults learn how to be a grown adult within controlled environments. Where we’re free from responsibilities of the real world, haven’t yet been knocked down by life, haven’t yet tasted the real struggles, yet at that time our problems feel like a mountain over our heads that we never seem to be able to conquer. Where we create memories worth a lifetime. Where we build friendships. Where we lose friendships too. Who doesn’t feel connected to their learning institutions and yearn to relive those days? Well, I did. Relived those days, that is. This book called Yaaram took me to a journey of university days and made me experience more emotions, both high and low, than any book in recent memory.
Yaaram by Sumaria Hameed. A story of love and friendship. A story of relationships in general. A story about uni life. I loved this book. I absolutely, totally loved this book. I dived into it with high expectations and it lived up to each one of them. Crazy, right? A book this hyped and not overrated either? A rare event indeed.
As the story begins, we’re introduced to the character of Amraha. She lives in Lahore with her family and is looked down upon by everyone. Or at least by anyone who knows her history. See, she’s considered manhoos in her family because of certain unfortunate events that transpired at the time of her birth. People think she’s bad luck. That she’s a living embodiment of evil eye. Imagine the trauma a person with such reputation must have gone through their entire life. Nobody cared about her. She had no friends. Her own family taunted her for what she was wasn’t. But, there was one person who did care for her. And looked after her. And groomed her. Her grandfather. Who loved her more than his own children, and more than her own father. He helped Amraha get away from this toxic environment and sent her to Manchester University in Manchester UK for higher education. Here is where Amraha discovered herself, made friends, found love, and then messed everything up!
Enter Aliyan, the love interest. Vera, the best friend. Carl, the troublemaker. Lady Meher, the savior of lost children. And other characters that show so many different forms and aspects of love that you just can’t help but melt at them. Amraha, a girl starved of love, confidence and self-esteem finds herself among these beautiful people and grows as a character. A lot. But in a very realistic way. She’s not fixed overnight. She’s not turned perfect either. She’s a flawed character and remains so throughout the novel. But her endurance grows with the story. She makes a lot of mistakes, but she also tries to fix them. “Tries” being the key word here. She doesn’t always succeed in fixing things. She does, however, have a special ability to royally screw things up. That’s what makes her character so realistic and relatable.
Aliyan, on the other hand, is an apple of everyone’s eye. He’s the popular kid in uni. Everyone loves him and for a good reason. He’s charming and decent. But he doesn’t have a lot of friends. His past is as shady as his name: Aliyan Margret. A Muslim first name with a non-Muslim last name. He fells in love with Amraha not long after she lands in his country. It’s very subtle and beautiful. He finds ways to spend time with her. He endures her snarky attitude. He laughs at her lame attempts at humor. Of course, Amraha’s feelings grow too. But, being a typical Pakistani girl chained with society’s traditions and customs, she rejects him. Things take a turn for the worse when Aliyan finds out the real reason for her rejection.
This is where this book that was making me laugh so much started to go glum. It became sad, so incredibly sad that I had to put it down on many occasions to take a hold on my emotions. I will not go into details of the story, but let me say how things get so much worse between Amraha and Aliyan in second and third act of the book before getting good. And what a cost Amraha had to pay to make things right again! And it had everything to do with Aliyan’s background and his past. Amraha crossed a few lines in this book. She broke too many hearts a long the way. She hurt her friends without intending to. Yet, her friends loved her unconditionally. It was so, so beautiful ❤.
Apart from Amraha and Aliyan, there are two other characters that deserve admiration: Vera and Carl. Vera is a Russian girl who becomes Amraha’s best friend. She’s a strong girl; incredibly strong, skilled and resourceful. Carl is Aliyan’s childhood best friend/enemy. He’s like Fred and George from Harry Potter. He’s a prankster. I initially didn’t like him, especially after the role he played in Amraha and Aliyan’s love story, but he grew on me big time later on. Carl too, in a way, becomes Amraha’s friend despite her reluctance.
Throughout the novel I kept thinking how lucky would I be if I had a friend like Vera. There was so much to learn from her. She had so much to give to the world and people around her. She became Amraha’s knight in shining armor whenever she got in trouble. She lend her support to her whenever she needed it. In return, Amraha sacrificed something great to honor their friendship. I have many problems with that “something” and the way Vera’s character handled in the third act with that unnecessary plotline, but overall she was brilliant.
Yaaram has a diverse cast of characters. Each character has uniquely identifiable character trait. Sumaria Hameed deserves props for creating so many three dimensional and relatable characters that enhanced the experience of this simple story. She is such a smart writer. I have mad respect for her story telling abilities and writing skills. She reminded me a lot of Farhat Ishtiaq. Both of their writing styles are so familiar it’s uncanny. I have always cried like a baby whenever I’ve read Farhat Ishtiaq’s novels. I went through the exact same emotional roller coaster ride with Yaaram. It’s both amazing and scary the power writers can have on us readers. I don’t cry much in real life. But give me a sad story, or even couple of well written sad sentences and I’m KO’ed. And Yaaram knocked it out of the park.
That’s what Yaaram is: a well crafted, well written, brilliantly executed, full of humor, full of sadness, full of life, and a thrilling story that delivers in all aspects of story telling. I LOVED this book. I see why so many people are crazy about this book and I’ve now become one of those people.
Yaaram by Sumaria Hameed. A story of love and friendship. A story of relationships in general. A story about uni life. I loved this book. I absolutely, totally loved this book. I dived into it with high expectations and it lived up to each one of them. Crazy, right? A book this hyped and not overrated either? A rare event indeed.
As the story begins, we’re introduced to the character of Amraha. She lives in Lahore with her family and is looked down upon by everyone. Or at least by anyone who knows her history. See, she’s considered manhoos in her family because of certain unfortunate events that transpired at the time of her birth. People think she’s bad luck. That she’s a living embodiment of evil eye. Imagine the trauma a person with such reputation must have gone through their entire life. Nobody cared about her. She had no friends. Her own family taunted her for what she was wasn’t. But, there was one person who did care for her. And looked after her. And groomed her. Her grandfather. Who loved her more than his own children, and more than her own father. He helped Amraha get away from this toxic environment and sent her to Manchester University in Manchester UK for higher education. Here is where Amraha discovered herself, made friends, found love, and then messed everything up!
Enter Aliyan, the love interest. Vera, the best friend. Carl, the troublemaker. Lady Meher, the savior of lost children. And other characters that show so many different forms and aspects of love that you just can’t help but melt at them. Amraha, a girl starved of love, confidence and self-esteem finds herself among these beautiful people and grows as a character. A lot. But in a very realistic way. She’s not fixed overnight. She’s not turned perfect either. She’s a flawed character and remains so throughout the novel. But her endurance grows with the story. She makes a lot of mistakes, but she also tries to fix them. “Tries” being the key word here. She doesn’t always succeed in fixing things. She does, however, have a special ability to royally screw things up. That’s what makes her character so realistic and relatable.
Aliyan, on the other hand, is an apple of everyone’s eye. He’s the popular kid in uni. Everyone loves him and for a good reason. He’s charming and decent. But he doesn’t have a lot of friends. His past is as shady as his name: Aliyan Margret. A Muslim first name with a non-Muslim last name. He fells in love with Amraha not long after she lands in his country. It’s very subtle and beautiful. He finds ways to spend time with her. He endures her snarky attitude. He laughs at her lame attempts at humor. Of course, Amraha’s feelings grow too. But, being a typical Pakistani girl chained with society’s traditions and customs, she rejects him. Things take a turn for the worse when Aliyan finds out the real reason for her rejection.
This is where this book that was making me laugh so much started to go glum. It became sad, so incredibly sad that I had to put it down on many occasions to take a hold on my emotions. I will not go into details of the story, but let me say how things get so much worse between Amraha and Aliyan in second and third act of the book before getting good. And what a cost Amraha had to pay to make things right again! And it had everything to do with Aliyan’s background and his past. Amraha crossed a few lines in this book. She broke too many hearts a long the way. She hurt her friends without intending to. Yet, her friends loved her unconditionally. It was so, so beautiful ❤.
Apart from Amraha and Aliyan, there are two other characters that deserve admiration: Vera and Carl. Vera is a Russian girl who becomes Amraha’s best friend. She’s a strong girl; incredibly strong, skilled and resourceful. Carl is Aliyan’s childhood best friend/enemy. He’s like Fred and George from Harry Potter. He’s a prankster. I initially didn’t like him, especially after the role he played in Amraha and Aliyan’s love story, but he grew on me big time later on. Carl too, in a way, becomes Amraha’s friend despite her reluctance.
Throughout the novel I kept thinking how lucky would I be if I had a friend like Vera. There was so much to learn from her. She had so much to give to the world and people around her. She became Amraha’s knight in shining armor whenever she got in trouble. She lend her support to her whenever she needed it. In return, Amraha sacrificed something great to honor their friendship. I have many problems with that “something” and the way Vera’s character handled in the third act with that unnecessary plotline, but overall she was brilliant.
Yaaram has a diverse cast of characters. Each character has uniquely identifiable character trait. Sumaria Hameed deserves props for creating so many three dimensional and relatable characters that enhanced the experience of this simple story. She is such a smart writer. I have mad respect for her story telling abilities and writing skills. She reminded me a lot of Farhat Ishtiaq. Both of their writing styles are so familiar it’s uncanny. I have always cried like a baby whenever I’ve read Farhat Ishtiaq’s novels. I went through the exact same emotional roller coaster ride with Yaaram. It’s both amazing and scary the power writers can have on us readers. I don’t cry much in real life. But give me a sad story, or even couple of well written sad sentences and I’m KO’ed. And Yaaram knocked it out of the park.
That’s what Yaaram is: a well crafted, well written, brilliantly executed, full of humor, full of sadness, full of life, and a thrilling story that delivers in all aspects of story telling. I LOVED this book. I see why so many people are crazy about this book and I’ve now become one of those people.
January 7, 2022
This book has my heart in a way no other book could ever have! One of my absolute favorites! Forever green!
I LOVE ALL THE CHARACTERS! THEY NEVER FAIL TO MAKE ME SAD WHENEVER I FINISH THIS BOOK!
I LOVE ALL THE CHARACTERS! THEY NEVER FAIL TO MAKE ME SAD WHENEVER I FINISH THIS BOOK!
June 3, 2019
I cannot tell you guys how much i was excited to read it. Don't hate me but this book was a huge disappointment for me. A very plain story. No twists or turns. Seriously, you could predict the ending since the very beginning. A major flaw of this book is that it's excessively dragged. People who say Pir e kamil or Jannat ke pattey are stretched unnecessarily should just read this and know what "unnecessarily stretching" a book really is. Yes there were some parts that i enjoyed. Some scenes i loved. All the characters except both the protagonists were amazing and fun.
So im not implying not reading it, as it's favv book of many fellow bloggers who kept telling me how amazing it is and all. But it's just not my cuppa tea. A plain love story.
Synopsis: Amarha wajid who is known for her 'nahoosat' (protentousness) in her entire family because of the occurrence of some bad events at her birth, has never been supported by her family at any front except her grandfather, who's always been there for her. Her grandfather is her mentor, freind, and entire family. So when she finally gets selected for scholarhip at Manchester university, her grandfather makes sure she gets free from this congested environment and live her life freely and happily. Amarha meets Veera, Carl, En oun, Lady Mahar, saadhna and Aliyan in Manchester. Who not only become her freinds but also become the family she never felt she had.
But things get worse when Aliyan falls in love with her. Her sweet bubble of joy doesn't last long after that. -
This is the most i need to tell you about this book.
Ps: im not here to offend anyone's feelings for this book. This is my honest review and everybody has a right to say whatever they feel. 🌸
So im not implying not reading it, as it's favv book of many fellow bloggers who kept telling me how amazing it is and all. But it's just not my cuppa tea. A plain love story.
Synopsis: Amarha wajid who is known for her 'nahoosat' (protentousness) in her entire family because of the occurrence of some bad events at her birth, has never been supported by her family at any front except her grandfather, who's always been there for her. Her grandfather is her mentor, freind, and entire family. So when she finally gets selected for scholarhip at Manchester university, her grandfather makes sure she gets free from this congested environment and live her life freely and happily. Amarha meets Veera, Carl, En oun, Lady Mahar, saadhna and Aliyan in Manchester. Who not only become her freinds but also become the family she never felt she had.
But things get worse when Aliyan falls in love with her. Her sweet bubble of joy doesn't last long after that. -
This is the most i need to tell you about this book.
Ps: im not here to offend anyone's feelings for this book. This is my honest review and everybody has a right to say whatever they feel. 🌸
November 3, 2025
A perfect book.
It took me to Manchester. I felt like it is my journey too.
There is intense love, there is pain, there is adventure. But most of all there is friendship, and there are so many, so many hilarious moments.
This story is not just about Amaraha and Aliyan. There is Veera, Margaret, Lady Mehr, Sai, and Carl. Oh, my dear Carl. He was the most hatable character in some part and charmingly becomes the favorite one.
The college life is probably one of the best and most hilarious narrations I have read. It takes you there. Of all the painful moments in the book (and there are a lot); I loved how Sumaira has depicted Amraha's pain, of how she misses Aliyan. There is one part when everybody is out for summer break, and she visits the university, and touches every corner where she has seen Aliyan in past. Love is crazy!
I started re-reading this book, as soon as I finished it. That's how good it is.
And I would have kept on reading it every now and again, if I hadn't lost all my library when my phone crashed.
Must read.
Shabana Mukhtar
It took me to Manchester. I felt like it is my journey too.
There is intense love, there is pain, there is adventure. But most of all there is friendship, and there are so many, so many hilarious moments.
This story is not just about Amaraha and Aliyan. There is Veera, Margaret, Lady Mehr, Sai, and Carl. Oh, my dear Carl. He was the most hatable character in some part and charmingly becomes the favorite one.
The college life is probably one of the best and most hilarious narrations I have read. It takes you there. Of all the painful moments in the book (and there are a lot); I loved how Sumaira has depicted Amraha's pain, of how she misses Aliyan. There is one part when everybody is out for summer break, and she visits the university, and touches every corner where she has seen Aliyan in past. Love is crazy!
I started re-reading this book, as soon as I finished it. That's how good it is.
And I would have kept on reading it every now and again, if I hadn't lost all my library when my phone crashed.
Must read.
Shabana Mukhtar
October 5, 2016
Sumaira Hameed is currently the best digest writer according to me. One of the best things about her is her writing style. Her writing has an antique touch to it. It irritates the hell out of me when writers use unnecessary English in their writings. I know the use of certain English words is unavoidable, but now a days writers add English without any sound reason. I love how Sumaira Hameed writes in totally pure Urdu.
Now coming towards the actual review let's discuss the good things first:
-Well, the best thing was how unique, uncustomary and original the writing was.
-Apart from that I loved how each and every character was well developed. All the secondary characters had a back story.
-I loved the character of Amraha's landlady. Adoption of kids from an orphanage is still somewhat of a taboo in our society. I loved how this issue was dicussed.
-I loved the character of Amraha's grandfather. Mostly the digest writers show Pakistani men in a very negative light. Which might be true in some cases, but of course it's not always like that.
-My favourite character was Margaret. I loved reading about her. Most of the love stories make me roll my eyes. Margaret's didn't; thanks to the writing style.
-The storyline was different. It didn't revolve around religion and didn't lecture on how "achi larkiyan" should act.
Now coming towards the issues I have with "yaaram":
-First things first, I hate the character of Amraha. According to the back story Amraha is a girl who is constantly mocked and humiliated by her relatives and even her parents because they consider her "manhoos". Logically a girl like her should be very mature, serious and focused. Yet Amraha was a polar opposite of that. She actually acted like a 13 year old. There came a time when I actually started thinking that Amraha was mentally retarded. Apart from that the things she did were so stupid that I literally wanted to slap her.
-Aaliyan was a little too good honestly. There came a time when I started thinking if he was actually a normal person or some "farishta".
-Aaliyan lived his life as a Muslim. And seriously I can't fathom why. Logically he should've hated Muslims after what his Muslim father did with him and his mother. I would have loved it if the writer had explained why he turned towards Islam. I can guess may be because of Lady Mehar. But still I need an explanation.
-The whole story was so mushy and sweet that I was sure I would end up having diabetes.
-All characters were too nice. They were all born and brought up in foreign countries, with different religious and cultural values. Yet, they all acted like average Pakistani university students. Growing up in foreign countries doesn't mean that they have to be evil or bad in any way, but they should have a different mind set and different scale for the measurement of good and evil and somewhat different moral values; which they hadn't in the novel.
But still I would definitely recommend it. As it was still a lot better than our average digest novels.
Now coming towards the actual review let's discuss the good things first:
-Well, the best thing was how unique, uncustomary and original the writing was.
-Apart from that I loved how each and every character was well developed. All the secondary characters had a back story.
-I loved the character of Amraha's landlady. Adoption of kids from an orphanage is still somewhat of a taboo in our society. I loved how this issue was dicussed.
-I loved the character of Amraha's grandfather. Mostly the digest writers show Pakistani men in a very negative light. Which might be true in some cases, but of course it's not always like that.
-My favourite character was Margaret. I loved reading about her. Most of the love stories make me roll my eyes. Margaret's didn't; thanks to the writing style.
-The storyline was different. It didn't revolve around religion and didn't lecture on how "achi larkiyan" should act.
Now coming towards the issues I have with "yaaram":
-First things first, I hate the character of Amraha. According to the back story Amraha is a girl who is constantly mocked and humiliated by her relatives and even her parents because they consider her "manhoos". Logically a girl like her should be very mature, serious and focused. Yet Amraha was a polar opposite of that. She actually acted like a 13 year old. There came a time when I actually started thinking that Amraha was mentally retarded. Apart from that the things she did were so stupid that I literally wanted to slap her.
-Aaliyan was a little too good honestly. There came a time when I started thinking if he was actually a normal person or some "farishta".
-Aaliyan lived his life as a Muslim. And seriously I can't fathom why. Logically he should've hated Muslims after what his Muslim father did with him and his mother. I would have loved it if the writer had explained why he turned towards Islam. I can guess may be because of Lady Mehar. But still I need an explanation.
-The whole story was so mushy and sweet that I was sure I would end up having diabetes.
-All characters were too nice. They were all born and brought up in foreign countries, with different religious and cultural values. Yet, they all acted like average Pakistani university students. Growing up in foreign countries doesn't mean that they have to be evil or bad in any way, but they should have a different mind set and different scale for the measurement of good and evil and somewhat different moral values; which they hadn't in the novel.
But still I would definitely recommend it. As it was still a lot better than our average digest novels.
November 3, 2025
Dropping this, not just because it’s dragged or unengaging, but because the author’s perspective on Islam seems to be influenced by Orientalist views rather than authentic Islamic ones.
Guess I’d rather save my reading time for something more authentic than indulge in the same westernized and colonized narrative of Islam.
To authors: if you guys are dying to give an Islamic touch to your novels just do us a favor and actually READ ISLAM by diving into authentic Islamic literature and history.
Guess I’d rather save my reading time for something more authentic than indulge in the same westernized and colonized narrative of Islam.
To authors: if you guys are dying to give an Islamic touch to your novels just do us a favor and actually READ ISLAM by diving into authentic Islamic literature and history.
December 18, 2018
Oh! The tears this book made me cry...
April 29, 2019
"یارم"
اس ناول کو "سمیرا حمید" نے بہت اچھا لکھا لیکن کہیں کہیں بہت مشکل الفاظ کا چناؤ کیا ہے جو بالکل میرے اوپر سے گزر گئے...
میں نے اب تک جو تھوڑے بہت ناول پڑھ رکھے ہیں ان میں بہ مشکل کوئی دو یا تین ناول ہی ایسے ہوں گے جن میں سارے کردار ہی جاندار ہوں گے
اور اس ناول کے بھی سارے کردار بہت جاندار ہیں سب کی ایک اپنی ہی کہانی ہے جو بہت مزے کی ہے....
اس ناول کی کہانی بہت اچھی ہے اور مختلف موضوعات کے گرد گھوم رہی ہے جو ہمیں اپنی عام زندگی میں دیکھنے کو ملتے ہیں.....
اس ناول کو "سمیرا حمید" نے بہت اچھا لکھا لیکن کہیں کہیں بہت مشکل الفاظ کا چناؤ کیا ہے جو بالکل میرے اوپر سے گزر گئے...
میں نے اب تک جو تھوڑے بہت ناول پڑھ رکھے ہیں ان میں بہ مشکل کوئی دو یا تین ناول ہی ایسے ہوں گے جن میں سارے کردار ہی جاندار ہوں گے
اور اس ناول کے بھی سارے کردار بہت جاندار ہیں سب کی ایک اپنی ہی کہانی ہے جو بہت مزے کی ہے....
اس ناول کی کہانی بہت اچھی ہے اور مختلف موضوعات کے گرد گھوم رہی ہے جو ہمیں اپنی عام زندگی میں دیکھنے کو ملتے ہیں.....
May 6, 2020
عشق ایک داستان ہے۔۔
محبت کے اسرار کی۔۔
انوار کے قیام کی۔۔
امرحہ اور عالیان کی۔۔
I confess I am late to the party, but I am here whatsoever! And let me tell you all I am so happy that I read this book. I laughed at the top of my lungs, I sobbed, I cried my eyes out! This book is a treasure of all the emotions and feelings of being in love for the first time. The emotions when the passion, care, love all are escalated to peak and you find yourself on cloud 9.
This story is about Amraha, a girl who is considered unlucky, a guy named Aaliyan who despite having a hard-luck is happy in his life. And then their paths collide and boom...! But is it all so easy? Being from a middle-class family of Lahore will Amraha be able to confess her love for a guy raised in foreign and is orphan too! These twists and turns will leave you laughing with tears in your eyes. Thank you @hope_by_sumaira_hameed for writing such an incredible book and giving us the story of Amraha and Aaliyan because I couldn't have found such cute yet intense story all this time ♥♥♥
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟/5
محبت کے اسرار کی۔۔
انوار کے قیام کی۔۔
امرحہ اور عالیان کی۔۔
I confess I am late to the party, but I am here whatsoever! And let me tell you all I am so happy that I read this book. I laughed at the top of my lungs, I sobbed, I cried my eyes out! This book is a treasure of all the emotions and feelings of being in love for the first time. The emotions when the passion, care, love all are escalated to peak and you find yourself on cloud 9.
This story is about Amraha, a girl who is considered unlucky, a guy named Aaliyan who despite having a hard-luck is happy in his life. And then their paths collide and boom...! But is it all so easy? Being from a middle-class family of Lahore will Amraha be able to confess her love for a guy raised in foreign and is orphan too! These twists and turns will leave you laughing with tears in your eyes. Thank you @hope_by_sumaira_hameed for writing such an incredible book and giving us the story of Amraha and Aaliyan because I couldn't have found such cute yet intense story all this time ♥♥♥
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟/5
May 21, 2024
Quite dragged and boring no actual plot
July 5, 2017
This book is a masterpiece. I've heard about it a lot but when I bought this book and read about the magic tale of Amarha and Aliyan, I was mesmerized and it's all in my mind ever since.
The start was so incredibly written that I could not get my eyes of it. I felt I was enjoying my university life and all that. The character of Carl is superb I really want to meet him, at first I was so annoyed by his mischieves and now I figured him out to be hilarious.
Also the nikah ceremony was sooo sooooo much wonderful, I by myself wanted to attend their wedding. it's such a beautiful accomplishment by the author and I love the book A LOT ╮(╯▽╰)╭
The start was so incredibly written that I could not get my eyes of it. I felt I was enjoying my university life and all that. The character of Carl is superb I really want to meet him, at first I was so annoyed by his mischieves and now I figured him out to be hilarious.
Also the nikah ceremony was sooo sooooo much wonderful, I by myself wanted to attend their wedding. it's such a beautiful accomplishment by the author and I love the book A LOT ╮(╯▽╰)╭
March 29, 2021
A story of friendship, love and university life, dredged with witty humor and dusted with important life lessons. Sumaira Hameed's descriptions are so vivid, you want to meet the characters and experience their life in Manchester. The plot is straightforward, but the interesting characters and hilarious incidents keep you entertained. Youngsters will definitely enjoy this novel.
November 7, 2017
An amazing Urdu novel after a loong loong time. I read Sumaira Hameed for the first time and i liked her writing style. Aaliyan was love <3 and Amarha was dumb (sometimes). Overall an Epic book.
March 24, 2019
-Way too much philosophy
-Characters act immature sometimes.
-Unnecessarily long.
-Characters act immature sometimes.
-Unnecessarily long.
May 9, 2019
1. The book was unnecessarily long and it was so dragging at some points that I had to skip pages.
2. I did not like the character of Amraha. She was very selfish and childish and i didn't see much development in her character throughout the book, besides the chemistry of two main lead seemed forced to me.
3. There were few mistakes she made about very basic details of culture. For example where the writer was describing Chinese parade, she wrote the national dress of China as “kimono” whereas in fact kimono is the national dress of Japan. After reading that the cultural description mentioned in the book lost its credibility for me.
2. I did not like the character of Amraha. She was very selfish and childish and i didn't see much development in her character throughout the book, besides the chemistry of two main lead seemed forced to me.
3. There were few mistakes she made about very basic details of culture. For example where the writer was describing Chinese parade, she wrote the national dress of China as “kimono” whereas in fact kimono is the national dress of Japan. After reading that the cultural description mentioned in the book lost its credibility for me.
October 3, 2023
The story is not so bad it's not too good for me actually. it's just a long book with a long introduction to a character which is not used in the future. It seems that sumaira hameed just wants to make the book long. I also didn't like the climax of the book. I think i can be more adventurous or more drama in the climax which was lacking. Not gonna i lie I'm not going to read this again. If you just started i would recommend dropping it or if you haven't started i wouldn't recommend it or if you started and half through it i would recommend just skip the filler and there are lot of it i will tell you a lot in it .
May 28, 2023
Its fiction beyond fiction
February 9, 2017
I always wished for something that can drive me through history and contemporary time "Ramuz e Rafta" and "Ehd e Guzishta" at the same time. I wished for something that has the essence of Rumi, fibre knitted with the antiques that reminds one of the Persian poets, of streets of Damascus and Baghdad where knowledge once flourished, the quiddity of one feeling the scents of spices from Cairo Bazaar, listening folk music and tales of Persia and subcontinent, travelling to new lands, exploring new worlds and above all, something that touches soul. Something that can make me cry, laugh, feel sad, bad, anger and the various other colours... just in one script, in one story.
So, this novel "Yaraam" (the dearest one) proved to be that kind of story. This story depicts life and unlike other writers it doesn't depicts very rich people. Its characters are very tangible one can think about and gives a message of love and hardwork. Its the story of those "Jo apni dunia ap paeda krty hn."
I have a heart felt love for it. Now, the introduction. The story opens with the tale of a girl, Amraha Wajid, who is practically thought to be bewitched from the day of her birth by her family and relatives except her grandfather, her dada.
ایک لڑکی ہے امرحہ...
شہر روشن... شہر قلم کار... شہر بے مثال...
لاہور سے...
Amraha is an introvert, under-confident and distressed one. Only her grandfather supports her morally. She wants an escape from her environment and thus lands in Manchester, the city of swans, to get herself enrolled in the University of Manchester.
This phase of the novel vividly and profoundly depicts the struggle of students who invest their own money in their study to build a career. It also reveals why some universities are considered world ranked because they teach how to stand up and walk ahead in life, how to build self-esteem and respect for mankind. Its not in what these universities make one cram but what they make one learn for one's lifetime.
So, this is where Amraha meets a business school student, Aalian Margaret.
ایک لڑکا ہے عالیان...
شہر جمال... شہر افکار. .. شہر لازوال مانچسٹر سے...
Choosing two rich cultural cities from east and west, the writer reveals a whole world of emotions... The colours that only heart can fill in empty spaces.
آو لفظ محبت سے ابتدا کریں... آو اس کی انتہا کریں... رجوم کا ایک طویل قافلہ رقص کناں گہری ہو چکی شام میں رک ابر (بادل کی سیاہ دهاری) سے ہوتا ہوا عالیان اور امرحہ کے سامنے سے گزرا...
وہ اباک (مبہوت) ابابیل تهی.
Then, the story of heart and soul unfolds. We travel through old persian era's. Rubab, Turb, Sarangi... Worlds, Tales and emotions. Time makes Manchester the "zerevar lake" of Iran, Aalian the "khusro kamali" and Amraha, her "zehra afandi". The art with which the writer gave animation to the traditional love folk tales and some celebrated characters of ever green classics is a sprinkling that ignites one to know about them too.
از آمدنت اگر خبر دانستم
پیش قدمت کوچہ را گل می کنتم
گل می کشم گل گلاب می کنتم
خاک قدمت پدی دم وار دانستم
یارم... یارم.... یارم...
Apart from this the philosophy of friendship, love, selflessness is also narrated in the form of Veera, Sai and lady mehar (land lady of amraha ). Lady mehar is a character that promotes the message of love removing all discriminations. Carl the "official manhoos mara" and the fatoor, the devil master mind of pranks... Frish-foe (best friend and best enemy) of Aliaan was a twister.
The university has its own charms and so two semesters came to an end. In between there is Chritsmas break and after that the journey takes us to Chinese new year's celebrations, where Aliaan proposes Amraha but she, divided in two halves of her wishes and her family's wishes, unknown to her own feelings of love for him, rejects him with a lie as an excuse that she is engaged, where infact she wasn't. She becomes a hypocrite in the relegion of love. Love that has the power to make beauty to ruin and ruin to beauty.
بانو قدسیہ کہتی ہیں "محبت مرگ سے پہلے جنم کا نام ہے. اور مجهے یہ لگتا ہے "محبت جنم سے پہلے مرگ کا نام ہے". یہ پہلے مار ڈالتی ہے پهر جی میں آئے تو جنم دیتی ہے. یہ پہلے انگارہ بنتی ہے... جی میں آئے تو... تو گلزار.
یہ محرق (جلا دینے والی) ہے.
اور یہ محشر ہے.
محبت "م" سے. یہ امر سے پہلے مرن ہے.
محبت مطوق (قید کی گئی)
محبت مضطر
اور یہ محبت مشرک بهی ہے.
The two souls departed from each other in utter disappointment. Then, after some time Aaliaan and Amraha get aparted due to Carl's prank.
جهولی پهیلائے رقص یار کے رقاص اپنے پیر جلا بیٹهتے ہیں تب بهی... نہیں... بس نہیں. وہ اپنا تن بهسم کر ڈالتے ہیں... تب بهی... نہیں.
Then, comes a certain layers of feelings, experiences and grieves.
جهاں محبت ہوتی ہے وہاں تکلیف ضرور ہوتی ہے. جو ہمیں چاہئیے ہوتا ہے وہی ہم سے دور ضرور ہوتا ہے. جسے مٹهی میں کر لینے کو جی چاہے اس کے لیے دل ضرور مٹهی میں آ جاتا ہے.
The situation almost becomes impossible for their re-union but... A hurt-ful surprise made both of them realize that how much they love each other.
دل تب بند نہیں ہوتا جب کوئی جان سے پیارا تکلیف میں ہو. دل تب بند ہوتا ہے جب کوئی جان سے پیارا جان چهڑا لیتا ہے.
The novel unveils the traditions, difference of thinking, the two faced policy of world, real friendships and true love.
Everything is knitted into a beautiful carpe "Qaleen'" by our "Qaleen baaf" Sumaira Hameed.
Yet being human, there were some flaws too. As at some place Aalian quoted "Sumaira ny" in reply to Amraha's question "tmhien kis ny btaia?"
The off-screens and on-screen narration of writer some way jumbled things. The last part from onwards to moqalam and tamsaal gar were intersting yet dragged way too long.
Nevertheless, it was a masterpiece for me. The story of Margaret, Aaliaan's mother; made me weep too much. I felt the real agony, the tugging feeling in the chest. Indeed, with such a background the real story became somewhat personal... that you'll feel real happiness for their joy and etc etc.
I want to give a tribute to this story. The language us rich, the style is amazing and breathtaking. It can fill one with 'sar-shaari'. I felt myself laughing heartily like on jokes
"Manchester mey 100 saala sardi ka record tootny py Nelson Mandeli ihtejaj krty hoye"
"Aaliaan in chaand-gari"
and weeping with "so'on-so'on" on Margaret's story and... yeah of Aaliaan's and Amraha's too.
During reading it and after it my heart constantly cried out "Baa nok e khaar mee raqsam".
Its actually the persian language that made a world of difference.
میں نگار عالم... میں سنگ آستاں
میں لوح نگینہ ساز... میں لوح شعلہ بیاں
عفونت میری گزرگاہیں...
میں جمال... میں کمال... میں ابہام...
میں گپت ہوں...
میں "قسمت" ہوں.
And
مرہم وقت کے تهال پر تها اور وقت قسمت کی مٹهی میں...
It is a story written with love and indeed, read with love too. Its simply and gorgeously a """MUST-READ""".
This is my urdu version of "forty rules of love".
It simply won my soul.
So, this novel "Yaraam" (the dearest one) proved to be that kind of story. This story depicts life and unlike other writers it doesn't depicts very rich people. Its characters are very tangible one can think about and gives a message of love and hardwork. Its the story of those "Jo apni dunia ap paeda krty hn."
I have a heart felt love for it. Now, the introduction. The story opens with the tale of a girl, Amraha Wajid, who is practically thought to be bewitched from the day of her birth by her family and relatives except her grandfather, her dada.
ایک لڑکی ہے امرحہ...
شہر روشن... شہر قلم کار... شہر بے مثال...
لاہور سے...
Amraha is an introvert, under-confident and distressed one. Only her grandfather supports her morally. She wants an escape from her environment and thus lands in Manchester, the city of swans, to get herself enrolled in the University of Manchester.
This phase of the novel vividly and profoundly depicts the struggle of students who invest their own money in their study to build a career. It also reveals why some universities are considered world ranked because they teach how to stand up and walk ahead in life, how to build self-esteem and respect for mankind. Its not in what these universities make one cram but what they make one learn for one's lifetime.
So, this is where Amraha meets a business school student, Aalian Margaret.
ایک لڑکا ہے عالیان...
شہر جمال... شہر افکار. .. شہر لازوال مانچسٹر سے...
Choosing two rich cultural cities from east and west, the writer reveals a whole world of emotions... The colours that only heart can fill in empty spaces.
آو لفظ محبت سے ابتدا کریں... آو اس کی انتہا کریں... رجوم کا ایک طویل قافلہ رقص کناں گہری ہو چکی شام میں رک ابر (بادل کی سیاہ دهاری) سے ہوتا ہوا عالیان اور امرحہ کے سامنے سے گزرا...
وہ اباک (مبہوت) ابابیل تهی.
Then, the story of heart and soul unfolds. We travel through old persian era's. Rubab, Turb, Sarangi... Worlds, Tales and emotions. Time makes Manchester the "zerevar lake" of Iran, Aalian the "khusro kamali" and Amraha, her "zehra afandi". The art with which the writer gave animation to the traditional love folk tales and some celebrated characters of ever green classics is a sprinkling that ignites one to know about them too.
از آمدنت اگر خبر دانستم
پیش قدمت کوچہ را گل می کنتم
گل می کشم گل گلاب می کنتم
خاک قدمت پدی دم وار دانستم
یارم... یارم.... یارم...
Apart from this the philosophy of friendship, love, selflessness is also narrated in the form of Veera, Sai and lady mehar (land lady of amraha ). Lady mehar is a character that promotes the message of love removing all discriminations. Carl the "official manhoos mara" and the fatoor, the devil master mind of pranks... Frish-foe (best friend and best enemy) of Aliaan was a twister.
The university has its own charms and so two semesters came to an end. In between there is Chritsmas break and after that the journey takes us to Chinese new year's celebrations, where Aliaan proposes Amraha but she, divided in two halves of her wishes and her family's wishes, unknown to her own feelings of love for him, rejects him with a lie as an excuse that she is engaged, where infact she wasn't. She becomes a hypocrite in the relegion of love. Love that has the power to make beauty to ruin and ruin to beauty.
بانو قدسیہ کہتی ہیں "محبت مرگ سے پہلے جنم کا نام ہے. اور مجهے یہ لگتا ہے "محبت جنم سے پہلے مرگ کا نام ہے". یہ پہلے مار ڈالتی ہے پهر جی میں آئے تو جنم دیتی ہے. یہ پہلے انگارہ بنتی ہے... جی میں آئے تو... تو گلزار.
یہ محرق (جلا دینے والی) ہے.
اور یہ محشر ہے.
محبت "م" سے. یہ امر سے پہلے مرن ہے.
محبت مطوق (قید کی گئی)
محبت مضطر
اور یہ محبت مشرک بهی ہے.
The two souls departed from each other in utter disappointment. Then, after some time Aaliaan and Amraha get aparted due to Carl's prank.
جهولی پهیلائے رقص یار کے رقاص اپنے پیر جلا بیٹهتے ہیں تب بهی... نہیں... بس نہیں. وہ اپنا تن بهسم کر ڈالتے ہیں... تب بهی... نہیں.
Then, comes a certain layers of feelings, experiences and grieves.
جهاں محبت ہوتی ہے وہاں تکلیف ضرور ہوتی ہے. جو ہمیں چاہئیے ہوتا ہے وہی ہم سے دور ضرور ہوتا ہے. جسے مٹهی میں کر لینے کو جی چاہے اس کے لیے دل ضرور مٹهی میں آ جاتا ہے.
The situation almost becomes impossible for their re-union but... A hurt-ful surprise made both of them realize that how much they love each other.
دل تب بند نہیں ہوتا جب کوئی جان سے پیارا تکلیف میں ہو. دل تب بند ہوتا ہے جب کوئی جان سے پیارا جان چهڑا لیتا ہے.
The novel unveils the traditions, difference of thinking, the two faced policy of world, real friendships and true love.
Everything is knitted into a beautiful carpe "Qaleen'" by our "Qaleen baaf" Sumaira Hameed.
Yet being human, there were some flaws too. As at some place Aalian quoted "Sumaira ny" in reply to Amraha's question "tmhien kis ny btaia?"
The off-screens and on-screen narration of writer some way jumbled things. The last part from onwards to moqalam and tamsaal gar were intersting yet dragged way too long.
Nevertheless, it was a masterpiece for me. The story of Margaret, Aaliaan's mother; made me weep too much. I felt the real agony, the tugging feeling in the chest. Indeed, with such a background the real story became somewhat personal... that you'll feel real happiness for their joy and etc etc.
I want to give a tribute to this story. The language us rich, the style is amazing and breathtaking. It can fill one with 'sar-shaari'. I felt myself laughing heartily like on jokes
"Manchester mey 100 saala sardi ka record tootny py Nelson Mandeli ihtejaj krty hoye"
"Aaliaan in chaand-gari"
and weeping with "so'on-so'on" on Margaret's story and... yeah of Aaliaan's and Amraha's too.
During reading it and after it my heart constantly cried out "Baa nok e khaar mee raqsam".
Its actually the persian language that made a world of difference.
میں نگار عالم... میں سنگ آستاں
میں لوح نگینہ ساز... میں لوح شعلہ بیاں
عفونت میری گزرگاہیں...
میں جمال... میں کمال... میں ابہام...
میں گپت ہوں...
میں "قسمت" ہوں.
And
مرہم وقت کے تهال پر تها اور وقت قسمت کی مٹهی میں...
It is a story written with love and indeed, read with love too. Its simply and gorgeously a """MUST-READ""".
This is my urdu version of "forty rules of love".
It simply won my soul.
August 31, 2025
LOVEDDDDDDD ITTTT🩷✨
داستانِ یارم
داستانِ یارم
November 30, 2024
Carl carried the novel.
Loved their friendship tho
Loved their friendship tho
October 13, 2020
Yaaram. Yeh kitaab hai dosti ki, ishq ki, aitebaar ki, ghaltiyon ki, pachtawe ki, mudawe ki, insaan dost ki, rivayat ki, dukh ki, sukh ki, dard ki, marham ki, maazi ki, haal ki, zindagi ki, mout ki. Yeh woh dastaan hai jo rivayaat o rivaaj ke bhoj talay dab jati hai. Lekin raat ke dhalne ke baad yeh amr prem kahani wapis ek naye din ke suraj ki tarah tulu hoti hai.
Is kahani se meine jo sabaq seekha hai woh yeh hai ke Carl aur Vera jaise dost aur dosti dono dil se nibhani chahiye. Amraha jaisi dost se social distancing krni chahiye. Amraha ka jo bhi background ho bhale se but uska role mujhe khasi toxic lga as a friend. Aaliyan ke liye zahir hai dukh hua lekin ab woh ofc uska reaction smjh skte hain. Carl ki ek ghlti ki wajah se yeh poori story khichti chali gayi. Aur mujhe is poori kahani mein sb se ziada dukh Vera ke liye hua. Part of me wanted her to be with Aaliyan and part of me didn't. But Vera deserved so much better. I really really liked her. I want a friend like Vera and Carl.
I enjoyed my first read of Sumaira Hameed. I'm looking forward to read her Ummul Yakeen. The story felt a bit dragged. Sumaira's writing style was good but it felt too poetic, like yk she'll make good shayari. The description was way too much. Each and every detail and some extra detail of some events was too annoying. The story was good but ofc it was wayy too much like fantasy. I mean it's okay I liked it but it doesn't happen irl. Besides this, I kind of enjoyed Yaaram and wanted to finish it asap.
Is kahani se meine jo sabaq seekha hai woh yeh hai ke Carl aur Vera jaise dost aur dosti dono dil se nibhani chahiye. Amraha jaisi dost se social distancing krni chahiye. Amraha ka jo bhi background ho bhale se but uska role mujhe khasi toxic lga as a friend. Aaliyan ke liye zahir hai dukh hua lekin ab woh ofc uska reaction smjh skte hain. Carl ki ek ghlti ki wajah se yeh poori story khichti chali gayi. Aur mujhe is poori kahani mein sb se ziada dukh Vera ke liye hua. Part of me wanted her to be with Aaliyan and part of me didn't. But Vera deserved so much better. I really really liked her. I want a friend like Vera and Carl.
I enjoyed my first read of Sumaira Hameed. I'm looking forward to read her Ummul Yakeen. The story felt a bit dragged. Sumaira's writing style was good but it felt too poetic, like yk she'll make good shayari. The description was way too much. Each and every detail and some extra detail of some events was too annoying. The story was good but ofc it was wayy too much like fantasy. I mean it's okay I liked it but it doesn't happen irl. Besides this, I kind of enjoyed Yaaram and wanted to finish it asap.
February 1, 2019
"Yarram" a fantastic novel by Sumaira Hameed. So interesting that I read its every episode two times while waiting for the next to come. My favourite characters in the novel are Amarhah and Carl.
The story starts from incidents when Amarhah, 1st main character of story, is considered ominous by all her family members except her paternal grandfather. She apply for a scholarship in Manchester and is rejected because of unsatisfying marks. She, then, amends her marks to a higher %age in her certificate with pen and then get admission. There she meet Carl, the most loving and dangerous character of the story with an intellectual mind, and she lost many things because of him. Carl's best and his childhood friend is Aliyaan, who is 2nd major character of story and uses her mother name Margret as his surname because of his hate with his father who deceived her mother.
Manchester's atmosphere remained very pleasant to Amarhah and Aliyaan in sarting days in which they remained friends and one sided love was there too. Then a period of time was devoted to hate also. In all the mean time, Carl's dangerous mischiefs and stunts were at peak.
The ending was a happy one and loving,too. Amarhah and Aliyaan get married finally after an interesting climax that removed all the distances, and Carl remained rejected by many girls because of his innocence(which he thought he has, otherwise.......).
The story starts from incidents when Amarhah, 1st main character of story, is considered ominous by all her family members except her paternal grandfather. She apply for a scholarship in Manchester and is rejected because of unsatisfying marks. She, then, amends her marks to a higher %age in her certificate with pen and then get admission. There she meet Carl, the most loving and dangerous character of the story with an intellectual mind, and she lost many things because of him. Carl's best and his childhood friend is Aliyaan, who is 2nd major character of story and uses her mother name Margret as his surname because of his hate with his father who deceived her mother.
Manchester's atmosphere remained very pleasant to Amarhah and Aliyaan in sarting days in which they remained friends and one sided love was there too. Then a period of time was devoted to hate also. In all the mean time, Carl's dangerous mischiefs and stunts were at peak.
The ending was a happy one and loving,too. Amarhah and Aliyaan get married finally after an interesting climax that removed all the distances, and Carl remained rejected by many girls because of his innocence(which he thought he has, otherwise.......).
June 8, 2020
Yaaram by Sumaira Hameed is a romantic fictional novel set in the beautiful city of Manchester with a storyline and characters so captivating and enveloping that I simply couldn’t stop reading it.
Amarha is a young girl from Lahore, who suffers from an inferiority complex because of an idiotic notion by her family who believe that she’s cursed and brings bad luck. Only her grandfather is kind and supportive of her. She gets accepted into a university in Manchester and believes that luck is finally on her side.
Enters Aliyan, a young man with a charismatic personality who studies at the same university. He and Amarha start off on the wrong foot but eventually become good friends and fall in love, but like all good love stories, theirs is just as complicated. Aliyan had a messy and troubling childhood with which he hasn’t come to terms with yet. They’re both kind of broken in their own way.
I love Hameed’s writing style, her sense of humour is amazing. Hers is one of those unique minds that created a character like Carl, and not everyone is capable of accomplishing such a feat. Now I did have some problems with scenes that were dragged too long, it hampered the reading experience for me a little but other than that it was a great read.
Amarha is a young girl from Lahore, who suffers from an inferiority complex because of an idiotic notion by her family who believe that she’s cursed and brings bad luck. Only her grandfather is kind and supportive of her. She gets accepted into a university in Manchester and believes that luck is finally on her side.
Enters Aliyan, a young man with a charismatic personality who studies at the same university. He and Amarha start off on the wrong foot but eventually become good friends and fall in love, but like all good love stories, theirs is just as complicated. Aliyan had a messy and troubling childhood with which he hasn’t come to terms with yet. They’re both kind of broken in their own way.
I love Hameed’s writing style, her sense of humour is amazing. Hers is one of those unique minds that created a character like Carl, and not everyone is capable of accomplishing such a feat. Now I did have some problems with scenes that were dragged too long, it hampered the reading experience for me a little but other than that it was a great read.
May 15, 2022
Okay, may this is my first review of Urdu novels on good reads. Firslty I would appreciate the effort of the author Sumaira Ahmed for writing such a beautiful piece of literature. Honestly Urdu novels was never my thing but I must say some of these are most close to my heart and Yaram is one of them. Despite being lengthy it has over all taken me aback at my reading seat until I have finished. It has been observed and read that mostly in Urdu novels there is almost the same story with maximum light shown on religion. But this novel is mixture and the mixture was adequate. For it has taken not only religion but people, real life people into it's domain. I liked the one thing very much of this novel that is the balance of characters. For author who has maintained all the characters very realistically till the end. While most of the Urdu novels don't.
One thing that I always hate about Urdu novel is exaggeration and in this novel I also observed it alot in this novel. (If you are addicted English read it is very uncomfortable phase because English is very direct.) But sometimes it was very good to read exaggerations in this novel. For mostly the Urdu is very difficult for beginners and mostly the exaggerated lines are just waste. But overall novel is good.
One thing that I always hate about Urdu novel is exaggeration and in this novel I also observed it alot in this novel. (If you are addicted English read it is very uncomfortable phase because English is very direct.) But sometimes it was very good to read exaggerations in this novel. For mostly the Urdu is very difficult for beginners and mostly the exaggerated lines are just waste. But overall novel is good.
February 19, 2017
Alright, okay. Where do I start? This book was perfection. Usually I'm not a fan of cheesy love stories because real life is never like that but Sumaira Hameed weaved an accurate combination of words to describe love, friendship, relations, family and customs. The banter between all the characters and the sass that was there was indefinitely enjoyable. I'll admit the mid of the story was too much feelings (maybe even some tears) but that only means that we got rightfully close to Amarha and Aliyan and felt their pain like it was our own. There was no drama, no evil professor, no unrealistic villains (Shaiytaan kai ustaad Carl k ilawa) and just same old and very real life that got in the way.
Oh and the beauty of the Manchester city just made the whole novel even more fairy tale-ish. I could've done without the purple poetry though. It was too much. Other than that I love it and wish everyone would read this. I can't believe it was on my shelf for so long.
Now i just need sequels of Yaram to read the stories of Veera, Carl and Sy.
Oh and the beauty of the Manchester city just made the whole novel even more fairy tale-ish. I could've done without the purple poetry though. It was too much. Other than that I love it and wish everyone would read this. I can't believe it was on my shelf for so long.
Now i just need sequels of Yaram to read the stories of Veera, Carl and Sy.
January 28, 2017
The characters in the book are very powerful and as a reader you will literally fall in love with each and every character.
This was a typical love story yet the journey of Amrah against the superstitious beliefs of the society were what made me like the book. There are times when I've cried reading the book wondering how someone's family could do something like that to one of their own but at the end I believe its about how courageously we face every such situation and how we emerge through it as stronger indivisuals and that's what matters the most. Carl however was my favourite character.
This was a typical love story yet the journey of Amrah against the superstitious beliefs of the society were what made me like the book. There are times when I've cried reading the book wondering how someone's family could do something like that to one of their own but at the end I believe its about how courageously we face every such situation and how we emerge through it as stronger indivisuals and that's what matters the most. Carl however was my favourite character.
December 5, 2024
When I read this book, I was in a hostel, and for the first time in my life, I went away from home to study, which is why I was able to relate to a lot of things that were happening to her.
I want to re read it sometime to see How do I like it now because I see lots of people are not liking it even my friends 🫣
I want to re read it sometime to see How do I like it now because I see lots of people are not liking it even my friends 🫣
June 7, 2017
3.5 stars. It could easily be 4 stars if it wasn't so unnecessarily long! (to be continued)
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