Although I have a large file of Naiyer Masud`s letters addressed to my father, I do not have the letters my father wrote to him. (I asked Naiyer Masud`s son, Timsal Masud, if he had any and he said that there weren`t any letters from Faruqi sahib kept in his father`s files.) Almost all of Naiyer Masud`s stories were published in Shabkhoon. His first story, `Nusrat`, came out in Shabkhoon in 1971. All the stories in his first collection, Simiya, were first published in Shabkhoon. But the correspondence between him and my father, Shamsur Rahman Faruqi, doesn`t dwell much on the stories. The only exception is his magnum opus, `Taoos Chaman ki Myna` [The Myna from Peacock Garden], written in 1992. This is his longest short fiction and was first published from Aaj(Karachi). The only letter that I have on file from my father to Naiyer Chacha refers to `Taus Chaman ki Myna` In his letter dated September 29, 1994, Naiyer Masud wrote: ` Ek taweel afsana `Taus Chaman Ki Myna` likha tha. Yeh nai Saughaat mein aa raha hai. Is se pehle aik afsana `Nosh Daru` khaas Aa j kal ke liye likha tha. Mahbubur Rahman sahib ke taqaze ka muntazir raha.Udhar khamoshi rahi. Abyeh bhi shayad Saughaat hi mein chhapay ga. Aik naql Ajmal Kamal ko bhej di hai.

[I wrote a long story `Taus Chaman KiMyna.` This is to be published in the new Saughat. Before this I wrote a short story `Nosh Daru` specially for Aajkal. Mahbubur Rahman sahib had asked for it. But now there is no response from his side.

Perhaps this too will be published in Saughat. I have sent a copy to Ajmal Kamal.] There must have been a letter in reply from Faruqi because the next letter from Naiyer Masud, dated October 22, 1994, picks up the thread: `A fsaanon ke silsilay mein aapki shikayat bilkul baja hai.

Do afsaanon mein taveel afsana `Taus Chaman Ki Myna` Shabkhoon ki gunjaish se zyadah bhi tha aur Saughat hi ke liye likha tha. Doosra afsana `Nosh Daru` mujhe kuchh mutmaeen nahin kar saka [...] [Your complaint about the stories is on point. Of the two stories, the long piece `Taus Chaman` is beyond the capacity of Shabkhoon and I had written it expressly for Saughat. I did not find the second story, `Nosh Daru` satisfactory [...] The letter goes on with some more critical thoughts on `Nosh Daru.

In response to this, my father wrote on November 9, 1994: `Janab-i-Aali, ap ne yeh kahaan se farz kar liya ke Shabkhoon ke natawan safhaat `Taus Chaman Ki Myna` ka wazan na utha sakein gey? Main ne aap ke kai afsaanay chhaapay hain jo`Taus Chaman`se kuchh kam na thhe. Aur `Nosh Daru` ke baaray mein kuchh nahin to aap mujh se rai hi le lete. Baat yeh hai ke Shabkhoon bechara ab boorrha ho gaya hai. Saughat aur Aaj taza taza ashiq hain. Farsi se tarajim hon to wahaan jaayein. Naya afsana ho to wahaan pohnchey.

Miyan Ghalib ko yaad karo.

`Jis muddat ki ab hamari tumhari dosti hai uss muddat ka tau ab dushman bhi nahin milta.

[My dear sir, how did you imagine that Shabkhoon`s weak pages would not be able to bear the weight of `Taus Chaman ki Myna`? I have published several stories of yours that were no less than `Taus Chaman.` And perhaps, if nothing else, you could have asked my opinion about `Nosh Daru`. The fact of the matter is that Shabkhoon is now old. Saughat and Aaj are new loves. Translations from Persian are sent there.

New pieces of fiction are sent there. Sir, remember what Ghalib said: The length of time you and I have been friends, one doesn`t even have an enemy for that long.] The October 22nd letter from Masud ends with a striking story about a dream that Masud`s wife had and which is described in the letter: `You and Jamila Bhabhi have come to our house and announce that you will be staying here with us. A room is prepared for you, then begins the wait for my arrival. I return after a while from somewhere but, instead of jumping with joy at seeing you, I merely greet you in the conventional manner and retire to my own room. My wife was so upset and embarrassed by my cold behaviour that she woke up. I said to her, `For God`s sake, don`t narrate this dream to Faruqi sahib or he will rip up my chest with heart-rending barbs of sarcasm.` What is the cure for that which I cannot dream of committing and happens in another`s dream?` I dare say that this dream is very cryptic. First, the choice to narrate the dream in his letter. Second, is it a placatory gesture? Remember, Masud had sent his most recent stories to Saughat instead of Shabkhoon. He announces it in the letter dated September 29. He must have known that it would irritate Faruqi and it does. Then, almost a month later in his letter dated October 22, he has the lame excuse that the first story was too long and the second one not good enough. But he also adds this dream, I assume by way of explication. In my reading of the dream, I see that Masud cold-shoulders Faruqi but softens the blow by saying that he wouldn`t commit such an act even in a dream, but maybe also that Faruqi is dreaming that Masud is ignoring him.

Quite complicated, subtle and open to interpretation.

I think this exchange marks the beginning of a slight rift between Masud and Faruqi. They continued to be friends and exchanged letters but the warmth of solidarity faded somewhat. As mentioned earlier, the letters continue for another decade and some. Many are postcards; some have details about personal ailments such as toothaches and then heart trouble.

Faruqi, who had made a big name as a literary critic and editor, published a short story, `GhalibNamah`, in Shabkhoon in the year 1997, under an assumed name; a second story followed also under a different assumed name. Many readers speculated that the writer of these stories was either Naiyer Masud or Faruqi, because none other could claim such depth of cultural knowledge as well as command over language.

I don`t have any letters from Masud regarding Faruqi`s emergence as a fiction-writer but I do have a congratulatory letter from 2006, in which Masud mentions the receipt of Faruqi`s novel Kai Chaand Thhe Sar-i-Asman. I didn`t find any letters with discussions on Faruqi`s fiction. It is indeed amazing how Faruqi and Masud present us with two unique voices and styles in Urdu fiction. The letters leave us wishing for more light on their literary exchanges.

The columnist is professor in the Department of Middle Eastern and South Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Virginia in the US. X: @FarooqiMehr