Author Jameel Gulrays will read out three stories by the master wordsmith, that he says show him in a different light
Katha Kathan, a literary group, will present, The Other Side Of Manto, stories by one of Urdu’s greatest writer Sadat Hassan Manto. The initiative by author, Jameel Gulrays aims to preserve and revive Indian language literature through the art of narrating stories. In the first edition, Gulrays will read three stories by Manto.
Sadat Hassan Manto, Jameel Gulrays
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The first two stories, Laanat Hai Aisi Dawa Par (1936) and Bhangan (1954) capture typical skirmishes between a husband and his wife. Whereas, the third story, Deewana Shaayar (1936) is set 16 years after the Jallianwala Bagh massacre as a wake-up call to the middle class to join the fight for India’s Independence.
The choice of stories, Gulrays says, is to depict a side of Manto that is not usually portrayed by the stories that are popular now. “People now mostly read Thanda Gosht or Khol Do. These are fine stories but reading only them creates an image of Manto as a writer who dealt only with riots, and that his writing only has sexual overtones. The stories I selected show a lighter side of the author,” he says.
He adds that the effort will be to include literature of different Indian languages in the subsequent events. “It is unfortunate that vernaculars are slowly being reduced to dialects. Through this humble initiative, I just want to start the process, giving the literatures their due and hope that people will take it forward too,” he signs off.
On April 3, 6.30 pm
At National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), Nariman Point. CALL 66223737
Entry Free
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