Author: Muhammad Umar Memon
Publisher: Penguin
Year: 1998
Language: English
Pages: 369
ISBN/UPC (if available): 0140272275
Description
A collection of some of the most memorable Urdu stories about the Partition and its aftermath.
In this valuable addition to the growing body of literature on the Partition, Memon brings together works by the finest Urdu writers o f this century.
Manto's haunting story 'Sahae' is about a pimp who meets with a tragic end while trying to save the belongings of one of his girls during the communal riots in Bombay. Rajinder Singh Bedi's 'Lajwanti' poignantly describes the anguish of Sunder Lal, whose wife has been abducted by the other side. Ismat Chugtai's 'Roots' is a heart-rending tale of an old matriarch, abandoned by her family, who prefers to lose her life to marauding mobs rather than migrate to an alien land.
In addition to these are more recent stories. This volume includes works by other well-known Urdu writers.
Skillfully translated, the stories portray with great realism and sensitivity the human tragedy that follows the collapse of mutual trust in keeping a multi-religious society together.
Contents
Preface
Saadat Hasan Manto
SAHAE
Rajinder Singh Bedi
LAJWANTI
Ashfaq Ahmad
THE SHEPHERD
Jamila Hashimi
BANISHED
Upender Nath Ashk
TABLELAND
Ahmad Nadim Qasimi
PARMESHAR SINGH
Intizar Husain
AN UNWRITTEN EPIC
Altaf Fatima
DO YOU SUPPOSE IT’S THE EAST WIND?
Ismat Chughtai
ROOTS
Hasan Manzar
KANHA DEVI AND HER FAMILY
Muhammad Salim-ur-Rahman
THE THAW
Masud Ashar
OF COCONUTS AND BOTTLES OF CHILLED BEER
Khalida Husain
THE WAGON
Syed Muhammad Ashraf
THE ROGUE
Salam Bin Razzack
A SHEET
Ali Imam Naqvi
THE VULTURES OF THE PARSI CEMETERY
Ilyas Ahmad Gaddi
A LAND WITHOUT SKY
GLOSSARY AND NOTES
CONTRIBUTORS