Mamma kia main bohut kala hoon?

Mamma kia main bohut kala hoon? is a Pakistani story. Its literal meaning is "Mom am I very black?". This story has been used by Pakistani parents for generations as a bedtime story. Its main character has the qualities that Pakistani parents want to instill in their children.

Main Character

The name of the main character is Adnan Tariq. Adnan was a 12 years old boy. He had a wheatish complexion. He was very thin and slender. He was physically very weak but he had one quality which was that nothing could infuriate him. No matter what people do Adnan would never bother and keep his cool.

The Story

According to the story, Adnan had a younger brother who was one and a half years younger than he was. The name of his brother was Irfan. Irfan always used to tease him and call him names. Irfan tried calling Adnan many names but nothing would bother him. One day, as Irfan was trying his usual routine of name calling, he came across a name which attracted a slight reaction from Adnan. Being a child of quick wits and keen observation, Irfan did not let this go unnoticed.

Irfan knew he had finally found a way to make Adnan lose his temper. The name that Irfan called him was "Kala Nanu". "Kala" means black and "Nanu" is a Pseudonym for Adnan. Irfan called him this everyday and Adnan grew more irritant about this with each passing day. Irfan expected that one day Adnan will become so annoyed that he will crack and lose his temper. But it actually worked in the opposite direction. Instead of being reactive, Adnan became more depressed day by day.

The reason for Adnan's depression was he thought that he was being called "Kala" because his complexion was black (In Pakistani society black complexion is generally considered to be ugly). When he became utterly depressed, he went to his mother and said "Mama kia main bohut kala hoon?" ("Mom am I very black?"). His mother asked him what had happened, whereby he related all that has happened to him. His mother told him to call Irfan back a name when he called him "Kala Nanu".

Adnan paid heed to his mother's advice and when the next time he was called "Kala Nanu", he returned the insult with "Chitta Bulbu" (White Bulb) which only made Irfan happy since white complexion is considered beautiful in Pakistan.

This made Adnan ask for his mother's advice again. This time he was given the advice to smile or laugh when he was called a name. Adnan did this and within days Irfan stopped calling him names because he thought Adnan had grown used to them.

Reasons For Popularity

This story is so popular in Pakistan because basically it is the Urdu version " Sticks And Stones".