Parsaai

Parsaai Noorani is an 18-year-old girl that has been accused of an unforgivable act. Because of it, she loses everything. Her scholarship to Cambridge, any friends she’d ever had, and the worst thing. Her parents’ trust.

Overcome by disbelief, disappointment, and anger, they send Parsaai, better known as Pari, to Mina, her birthplace and motherland, hoping the time away from London and home will return her to her senses and allow people time to forget. In Mina, she is surrounded by family she hasn’t seen in ages. Aunts, Uncles, and cousins that had once, during her childhood, been like brothers and sisters to her. Now, she can barely remember their names. Regardless, they treat her like their own, like she and her family had never left the city. They accept her—mistakes and all, unlike her parents, who sent her away because of one she never committed. But, despite their love and kindness, she still feels like an outsider, a stranger that is constantly being discussed in private. And then, as she finally starts to feel less uncomfortable around her family, as she slowly begins to open up to them and enjoy herself, she is forced to see them in their true, ugly forms.

Simultaneously, as if to further disturb her trip, Mina is suddenly placed under martial law in order to counter the violent riots that have begun erupting around the city. A strict curfew that every tourist, visitor, and citizen must abide by is established. Anyone who dares to break it or tries to go against it is immediately arrested and jailed. Everywhere she turns, Pari sees soldiers, adorned in Pakistan and India's national colors, armed with large, daunting weapons. One solider in particular, who she coincidentally encounters on many occasions, attracts her stubborn curiosity and brings out her fear the most. He seems ruthless, overbearing, cruel, and downright monstrous. And though she tries to stay away from him and the others as much as she can, Fate has other things in mind.