 Saadat hasan Manto (1912-55) is one of the finest Urdu short story writers. Manto touched the hearts of many with his convincing and utterly original portrayal of human fallibility. Rakhshanda Jalil has published works of translations including The Temple and the Mosque in these thirty-two satirical cameos by Saadat Hasan Manto.
Title: ‘Naked Voices' by Saadat Hasan Manto
Translated by: Rakhshanda Jalil
Publisher: Roli Books, India
Price: Indian Rs 295
Pages: 141
Saadat Hasan Manto was very popular in his time as a progressive writer. But he wrote in Urdu. Now, Rakhshanda Jalil introduces him to English readers with a collection of 16 short stories and three sketches. Interestingly, the translator-compiler of ‘Naked Voices' has left out Manto's more well-known stories such as ‘Kali Shalwar', ‘Toba Tek Singh' et al, because, there was much more to Manto than what these stories reflect. Instead, she offers an ‘as broad-based sampling of Manto's work as possible.'
Manto was overly obsessed with sex and drinking. He had intimate acquaintance with brothels and the lives of prostitutes and pimps. Likewise, he was deeply touched by the terrible suffering of people in the aftermath of Partition. Most of the stories, therefore, revolve round these topics. Yet he was not entirely bereft of a sense of humour and nobler qualities. As he says, he writes on a blackboard with white chalk and paints the society as it is, in all its nakedness, without attempting to dress it.
Whether unwittingly or by design ‘Bismillah' is the first story. Here, though, it is not the word which a Muslim starts any activity with, but the name given by a Muslim to a Hindu girl left behind in the riots when her family left for India. Zaheer had taken hold of her, given her a Muslim name and forced her into prostitution.
In sharp contrast to ‘Bismillah' is ‘Sahay'. If the former exposed the worst in man; the latter reveals the best. In this story, perhaps, Manto speaks through Mumtaz to offer a few rare glimpses into his own heart and mind.
Sahay is a staunch Hindu. He runs a brothel. The inmates are both Muslim and Hindu. He opens postal savings bank accounts for each ‘worker'. He marries off one Hindu girl to a Muslim client.
In the riots following Partition, one day he is stabbed in the chest in a Muslim locality. His old friend Mumtaz spots him lying on the pavement, as he happens to pass by and comes by his side. As life oozes out of Sahay, he asks Mumtaz to take ‘the jewellery and 1,200 rupees' from under his vest, give them to Sultana, - one of the girls in his brothel - and tell her to leave immediately.
Mumtaz is leaving Bombay for Pakistan. Before his three Hindu friends who have come to bid him farewell, he ruminates over the situation and says, ‘Don't say one lakh Hindus and one lakh Muslims have died; say two lakh human beings have died.'
‘By religion, or faith, I mean that other quality that elevates us above our fellow men,' says Mumtaz and, to illustrate his point he tells the story of Sahay, who was engaged in a ‘most despicable profession, yet his soul was pristine.'
‘Hundred Candle Watt Bulb' is about a woman robbed of her sleep by her pimp's exacting demands. Ultimately, she smashes his head with a brick. But it does not appear natural that she should go to sleep beside his corpse.
‘Comfort' has a touch of humour. A woman is disconsolately crying because a male friend has taken liberty with her, and is comforted with the counsel to not cry over spilt milk. ‘By the Roadside' reveals Manto's deep knowledge about women as he describes the physical changes, sensations and emotions of a woman during pregnancy and childbirth in the minutest of details.
What Partition did to people is the theme of ‘Sharifan' and ‘By God'. ‘The Maker of Martyrs' is a fascinating satire on human greed. A Bania migrant from Kathiawar to Karachi, learns that those who die in sudden accidents become martyrs. So, he buys a derelict old compound with 151 tiny rooms and settles 1,000 poor people there collecting two months' rent in advance. Within three months the building collapsed due to heavy rains making a martyr out of ‘every single one of them.'
To derive the most pleasure out of these beautifully translated stories, one must read on.
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