A Collection of Short Stories

By Masooda Rahman Khan

In a short story collection that spans countries, emotions, and generations, Masooda Rahman Khan uses tight, personal narratives to explore universal humanitarian issues. Stories of young girls and animals, and the constant mistreatment of both, force the reader to confront uncomfortable truths about the state of the world. Khan pulls from a childhood spent traveling the globe with her father to inject a sense of vivid realism to India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Indonesia. These deeply felt short stories will stay with you long after you put the book down.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Sep 30, 2020
• ISBN: 9781645365839

Masooda Rahman Khan

Masooda Rahman Khan was born in a little town in Salar, Murshidabad, India. She was raised in India, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. She attended a convent school in New Delhi but completed high school and college in Karachi. New Orleans is the place where she lived the longest. She is still residing in Metairie, Louisiana, in the suburbs of New Orleans. Masooda is a single mother. She has worked as a real estate agent, a translator in Philadelphia, an X-ray technician in a hospital, and a teacher. She now owns her own business. She is a proud grandma of Imran (11), Diya (9) and Azad (6).

Book preview

(6).

Dedication

To my beloved parents, Badrunissa and Masud Rahman.

Copyright Information ©

Masooda Rahman Khan (2020)

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher.

Any person who commits any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

The story, experiences, and words are the author’s alone.

Ordering Information

Quantity sales: Special discounts are available on quantity purchases by corporations, associations, and others. For details, contact the publisher at the address below.

Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication data

Khan, Masooda Rahman

A Collection of Short Stories

ISBN 9781643789866 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781643789859 (Hardback)

ISBN 9781645365839 (ePub e-book)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019907830

www.austinmacauley.com/us

First Published (2020)

Austin Macauley Publishers LLC

40 Wall Street, 33rd Floor, Suite 3302

New York, NY 10005

USA

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Acknowledgment

I acknowledge my three grandchildren, Azad, Diya, and Imran, for their inspiration in writing these short stories.

When Imran was born and I saw him for the first time in the hospital, I couldn’t keep my eyes off of him. If anyone looked through my eyes, he was the most handsome little baby in this whole wide world.

Diya, the middle child, a girl with beautiful, brown eyes, a sharp nose, and a head full of straight brown hair was as cuddly as a baby could be. How can anyone not fall in love with her?

Azad, the youngest boy, is just the kind of a tiny man one would love to have. When he first cried, he cried with all his might. When he laughed, he would kick his little legs and move his hands constantly.

They are the love of my life and the inspiration to write this book. The language of my book is simple, no bombastic words so that Imran, Diya, and Azad can read it.

My special thanks to Chhavi Solanky, who encouraged me to write. My cousin, Khaled Qader, was always there for me and has read most of the stories of this book. Nazrat Rahman, my sister-in-law, proofread some of these stories, even though she was going through a crisis. Thanks to both of them!

Author’s Note

What prompted me to write this book, are my deceased parents. My mother was homeschooled, but she was a wise woman. My father was a diplomat, and at the same time, a poet, writer, and a singer. He published 16 books. One in English, and the rest of the fifteen in Bengali. I followed his footsteps in writing this book.

In normal times I wouldn’t mind releasing my phone number to interviewers, and other interested parties. I don’t even mind attending events, public speaking, and book signing. But because of the pandemic, I cannot even travel now. 

My key message is that in 2015, I started a school in a village in India. This is for orphans, and poorest of the poor children. I am not rich, but with my lifelong savings, I was able to build an elementary school, named after my mother and father. So far I have been funding to pay for seven teachers. The proceeds from the sale of this book could help me in adding more classes to this school. 

– Masooda Khan.

Synopsis

Most of the short stories I have written are true stories, but the names are changed, and some fiction is definitely there. Some of the stories are depicted from the Indian village life. In that culture animals and women have no rights whatsoever. Sad but very true. My father was in the foreign service, as such as a little girl, I traveled with my parents to many countries. I had no idea such disparities existed in rural areas between girls and boys. Boys can get away with anything, but not girls. When girls get married, the father of the girl has to come up with lots of money. Even if he cannot afford to pay the guy the money, he would borrow, or sell his property, so he could get his daughter married. Animals are treated even worse. Dogs and cats are thrown stones at. They are sometimes beaten to death. Cows and bulls carry tons of hay, vegetables, and fruits, on their back, but they are constantly whipped, so they move faster. When I first visited Indian villages in 1994, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Politicians are corrupt. Over there rich are getting richer, and poor becoming poorer. I tried helping many, whichever way I could, and took out money from my old age savings. My parents were from that area, as such I decided to open up a school for the orphan, and poor children there. I had to invest quite a bit in doing so. First I bought a piece of land, and then got the school built.

Seeing all the unfair, and cruelty in those societies, I couldn’t just watch and do nothing about it. I decided to write about them in the form of short stories. Some of my stories are also about mistreatments of animals there. I want the society to come to their senses, and the whole society in general to realize that girls are as good as boys. Also, for them to feel empathy and sympathy for all the animals, who depend on us humans for their existence. They cannot express their feelings, like we can. All 27 of my stories are a lesson for us to be good, kind, and fair in life with everyone.

1. Tony, My Beloved Dog

Tony was a one-year-old dog who had five more siblings. When they were about a month or so old, all six of them were adopted by six different families. They missed their mother and each other very much. The mother cried for them, and they cried for their mother. They missed the good times, all seven of them had in one another’s company. Tony was brought to Maroofa’s home for her two grandsons. They lived in a village called Shahpur, which is in India. He was a beautiful mutt, half-gold and half-black with big, brown eyes. Tony was kind, loving, and he was a very loyal dog, who would be willing to help his owner in whichever way he was able to. Everyone loved him, but Maroofa took care of him. Maroofa is a woman of about sixty, she has dark-brown complexion that most people dream to have. She is a maid, but she is always dressed up in a nice clean saree, and puts her hair in a bun. She fed Tony twice a day, her two grandchildren, along with many neighborhood kids played ball with Tony every day. Litu is the younger brother, Mitu is the older one. Both loved Tony to death. They refused to take their meals unless they fed the dog first.

Mariam who had started a nonprofit school in Shahpur, so every year she would visit this village. In November 2017, when Mariam came to Shahpur, on the first day of her arrival here, she saw Tony with Maroofa. What is wrong with this dog, he has cuts and wounds all over his body? asked Mariam to Maroofa.

Madam, about a month back, three ferocious dogs scratched and bit Tony badly. He has been limping since that time, and the wounds are infected. He is much better now. Mariam felt so bad for that poor, little dog. She asked Maroofa to bathe the dog, dry his body with a clean rag, and then apply antibiotic ointment on the infected areas. Maroofa took care of Tony whenever she was free from doing Mariam’s daily chores.

Tony was fed by Maroofa twice a day, and she applied ointment everyday all over his infected body. After a couple week, Tony recovered fully and looked healthy. Mariam was so relieved that Tony was fine now. She got busy with her nonprofit school, teaching English to the students, the construction of the second floor of the school, and helping the very needy in the village. On her free time, she would talk to Tony, and rub his body. He only understood Bengali, but soon he could follow English as well. Mariam spoke to him only in English. She did this, because she had plans to bring him to America. Within two months, Tony became very close to Mariam. Mariam too started loving Tony. They bonded with one another. From then on Tony stopped going to Maroofa’s, he would be sitting in front of Mariam’s front door, day and night. In the morning when Mariam went to school to teach English to the schoolchildren in English medium school, Tony would be waiting for Mariam. He would follow her to the school. The children were scared of Tony at first, but Mariam encouraged them to pat him, and be kind to him. Tony started to love those children, and they would offer him their snacks and play ball with him.

After seven weeks of stay in Shahpur, Mariam took a week’s trip to Delhi, Merrut, Agra, Jaipur, and Ajmer. She met with some old friends in Delhi, but she thoroughly enjoyed the Taj Mahal. This wonderful monument was built by Shah Jehan, a Mughal Emperor for his beloved wife, Mumtaz. This gorgeous monument was built with pure marble, and is considered one of the wonders of the world. Mariam was here once with her parents many years ago, when she was hardly ten. The second time she was there with her husband on their honeymoon, and now for the third time, when she could really appreciate the breathtakingly wonderful queen, prettier than all queens, The Taj Mahal.