Dancing in the Moonlight and Other Stories By Zafar Azeem Self-published ISBN: 978-9699192296 216pp.

Zafar Azeem, the author of Dancing in the Moonlight and Other Stories, is a graduate of Punjab University and practises law in the USA. He has written two other short story collections: As Luck Would Have It and Other Stories in 2005 and And the Cab Moved On and Other Stories in 2025.

There are 15 stories in Dancing in the Moonlight and Other Stories. They are all short and easy to read. In many cases there is no story as such, no yarn being woven. Instead, the ideas of the great thinkers of the East, such as Bulleh Shah, Kabir and Rumi are discussed or juxtaposed. The collection is, in fact, also dedicated to these very philosophers. The stories also feature the Greek philosopher Socrates and the ideas of Florentine Niccolo Machiavelli and the 4th-3rd BCE Mauryan empire adviser Chanakya.

‘Dancing in the Moonlight’, the title story which is also the first story of the anthology, is a nod to Rumi. Four friends, some old disciples and some new to the game, are attempting to participate in the Sama Raqs, the dance of the whirling dervishes. Their experience is discussed the next day and, in the process, Rumi’s ideology is presented to the reader. Contradictions and contrasts are used in elucidating Rumi’s wisdom to very good effect.

‘The Mystery She Was: A Secret Unveiled’ is a story that needs to be properly fleshed out to make it work. Even the country it is set in is unclear. A fortune-teller who works with a parrot picking out the card with the client’s future sets her price at 50 cents and is paid in two........

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