India, Pakistan writers take part in webinar on Manto’s works

Amritsar, July 12

Calling Saadat Hasan Manto’s works as an intangible heritage of India as well as Pakistan, writers and thinkers from both sides participated in a webinar on Manto. The Majha House organised this online conversation with author Nasreen Rehman and Shahid Nadeem, Lahore-based screenwriter and director.

Nasreen Rehman recently translated the stories of Manto in her book — The Collected Stories of Saadat Hassan Manto. The session was organised under the aegis of Sanjha Punjab, an offshoot of the Majha House, where writers from both sides of the border come together to talk about shared histories and art and literature.

Initiating the conversation, Preeti Gill, founder, Majha House, said, “Manto’s stories, written during the gruesome Partition, chronicle those troubled times truthfully. Though Manto’s stories were written decades ago, they still continue to haunt and resonate with people everywhere. The world that Manto showed in his stories is dystopian and, on every page, we come across human beings, who are devastated and distorted by what is happening around them. They are creations of this very society and in their heinous crimes, we see reflections of the dark side of human beings.”

Talking about why she had chosen Manto as he has already been translated by many writers, Nasreen said she was introduced to Manto by her aunt during her childhood. “She gave me Manto’s Mozelle to read and I was shocked by the audacity of his language and theme. I couldn’t believe that this had been actually written and published. While writing about the film industry, I came across his story Babu Gopinath and fell in love with Manto as a writer.” She then translated 15 of his stories and showed them to writers for reactions and was told by many to translate them.

Talking about Manto’s importance as a writer, Nasreen said was unfair to see him as a writer only. “I find that Manto is a historian as he did not just stand as a spectator to what was happening all around him, he engaged with the people and society. What he witnessed, he compelled us to look at it too. But behind all the gory incidents, the bloodshed, the violence, Manto was constantly searching for traces of humanity,” she said.

She also shared that Manto’s stories set in Mumbai are markedly different from his later works, which is why she decided to divide the stories based on the location of the stories. “Manto created a very different language that is uniquely his. It was a challenge for me to faithfully render his style. I felt that I had to enter Manto’s head trying to see how he would have written his stories if he had chosen to write in English. He flowed from Punjabi to Urdu very smoothly. I tried to capture that unique taste of his Punjabi Urdu,” she said.

Dissecting Manto’s story Mozelle, she said his stories reflect his views about society and politics and religion. “In Mozelle, he shows what he feels about religion and in Babu Gopinath, he talks about the commodification of relationships,” she added.