hat happens when student politics, forbidden friendships and a meddling professor collide at an elite Pakistani business school? Nadya Chishty-Mujahid’s Perennial College Tales serves up 24 sharp, witty stories that read like episodes from your next binge-worthy campus drama.

If you thought university life was all lectures and late-night revision, Chishty-Mujahid is here to prove otherwise. Her latest collection, Perennial College Tales, returns to the fictional Saeed School of Business. Political manoeuvring, tangled friendships, illicit romances and a delightfully unconventional professor take centre stage. A sequel to her debut, Timeless College Tales, this follow-up is punchier, more polished and notably more interconnected.

Unlike many short story collections that resemble scattered thoughts in a binder, Perennial College Tales reads like a series of novellas stitched together with an invisible thread. Characters reappear across stories, their arcs unfolding subtly, making the narrative feel alive, chaotic and authentic, much like campus life itself. You don’t just read 24 separate tales; you begin to feel that you inhabit the campus.

At the centre of these stories is Dr Madeeha Sulaiman, a bold, meddling and strangely endearing professor who takes on the roles of guardian angel, matchmaker, part-time therapist and, yes, sender of musical voice notes. She pushes her students, sometimes too far, but always with an intense, if unconventional, maternal energy. Whether she’s coaxing a nervous student through a poetry recital or defusing political tensions on campus, her methods may raise eyebrows, but her heart is (usually) in the right place.

The real strength of Nadya Chishty-Mujahid’s writing lies in her uncluttered, visual storytelling. You don’t feel that you’re reading, it’s more like watching a Netflix-style campus dramedy, complete with layered characters, sharp dialogue and the occasional twist. The humour is subtle, the conflicts feel earned, and even the smallest stakes land with surprising impact.

You don’t just read 24 separate tales; you begin to feel as if you inhabit the campus.

Her characters are flawed, ambitious, insecure and just the right amount over the top. You encounter student leaders full of fire who crumble under a crush’s gaze, roommates navigating unspoken bonds and young politicos juggling ego with empathy. While boys’ hostels and campus elections feature heavily, female characters like Hadia Furqan bring grit and nuance, refusing to serve as sidekicks in a testosterone-driven narrative.

Refreshingly some of the stories deliberately steer away from predictable romantic arcs. The Cufflinks, for instance, is a bittersweet love story that avoids cliché. Frozen Feelings offers a poignant glimpse into male friendship, rich with quiet emotional undertones. Nadya isn’t afraid to explore fragility, failure and the murky middle ground. That’s what sets this collection apart.

One story, in particular, feels like a microcosm of this controlled chaos: The Interview. A student with a stammer is asked to recite a complex poem during an audition. It’s a moment that could have tipped into cruelty, but instead becomes unexpectedly empowering, awkward and beautiful in equal measure. And that’s the tone of the whole book: awkward, beautiful and quietly moving.

Perennial College Tales feels particularly timely for Pakistani readers. Its elite academic backdrop, cutthroat student politics and tangled intersections of identity, ambition and belonging resonate deeply. The setting is familiar, yet the storytelling feels fresh. Whether you’ve studied at a Pakistani university or simply loitered around one during chai breaks, you’ll recognise pieces of real life in these pages.

If you’re looking for something quick yet layered, dramatic yet grounded, with characters that linger long after the last page, Perennial College Tales is worth picking up. It’s sharp, witty and unexpectedly emotional, much like university life itself.

Perennial College Tales

Author: Nadya Chishty-Mujahid

Publisher: Liberty Publishing, 2024

Pages: 300

Price: Rs 1,495

The reviewer is the head of content at a communications agency