Author: Muhammad Umar Memon
Eminent Contributors/
Translator(s)/ Editors(s): Muhammad Umar Memon
Publisher: Penguin
Year: 2009
Language: English
Pages: 296
ISBN/UPC (if available): 9780143063544
Description
A collection of short stories by thirteen of Pakistan’s finest writers.
In the title story, Altaf Fatima portrays the pain felt by a Muslim who is forced to separate from her Hindu friend during Partition. Ghulam Abbas describes how the ‘Lure of Music’ seduces a father to abandon the confines of a middle-class existence and unwittingly embrace the culture of the kotha. Saadat Hasan Manto’s ‘For Freedom’s Sake’ is the story of the young Congress ‘dictator’ Ghulam Ali who suppresses his sexual desires for the cause of Independence, only to realize the folly of such a sacrifice. Abul Fazl Siddiqi narrates the tale of the poor, lovely Sundariya who wins a five-yearly mango competition with her new ‘Gulab Khas’ and faces the wrath of her aristocratic competitors. And in ‘Sunlight’, Abdullah Hussein captures the joy of the exile returning home after a long hiatus.
Retaining the flavour of the original, Muhammad Umar Memon’s translations from the Urdu offer sharply observed snapshots of life in the subcontinent and celebrate the secular heritage of the language.
Contents
Acknowledgements
Introduction
ABDULLAH HUSSEIN
Sunlight
SAADAT HASSAN MANTO
For Freedom’s Sake
ALTAF FATIMA
Do You Suppose It’s the East Wind?
GHULAM ABBAS
The Lure of Music
JAMEELA HASHMI
Banished
ABUL FAZL SIDDIQI
Gulab Khas
IKRAMULLAH
Regret
FAHMIDA RIAZ
Pink Pigeons – Was It They Who Won?
HASAN MANZAR
The Drizzle
ASAD MUHAMMAD KHAN
Ma’i Dada
ASHFAQ AHMAD
Havens
JAVED SHAHIN
If Truth Be Told
TASADDUQ SOHAIL
The Tree
Notes on Contributors
Copyright Acknowledgements