Dhuan (short story collection)
| Author | Saadat Hasan Manto |
|---|---|
| Original title | Dhuan |
| Country | British India |
| Language | Urdu |
| Publisher | Saqi Book Depot (Delhi)[1] |
Publication date | 1941 (first edition) |
| Media type |
| Part of a series on |
| Progressive Writers' Movement |
|---|
Dhuan (Urdu: Smoke) is a collection of short stories in Urdu by Saadat Hasan Manto first published in 1941.
Background[edit]
Dhuan was first published in 1941 from Delhi.[1] This was Manto’s third collection of original short stories after Atish Paray and Manto Ke Afsanay.[2] It was written in Delhi during the time Manto spent in All India Radio.[3] The collection also included reprints of Manto’s earlier stories published in Atish Paray such as Chori, Ji Aaya Sahab (Qasim) and Dewana Shair.[4] An identical collection under the title Kali Salwar (Black Trouser) was also published in Lahore in the same year.[5]
Content[edit]
The stories in this collection include:[1]
- Dhuan (Smoke)[a]
- Kabutaron wala sain (Pigeon-seller Mendicant)
- Ullu ka Pattha (Fool)
- Namukamal Tahrir (Unfinished composition)
- Qabz (Constipation)
- Aiktras ki Aankh (An Actress’s Eye)
- Woh khat jo post na kiya gaye (Those letters that were never mailed)
- Misri ki dali (A Piece of Rock Candy)
- Matami Jalsa (Assembly in Mourning)
- Talawwun (Capriciousness)
- Sijdah (Prostration)
- Taraqqi Pasand (Progressive)
- Naya Saal (New Year)
- Cuhe daan (Mousetrap)
- Chori (Thief) [b]
- Qasim (Qasim) [c]
- Dewana Shair[d]
- Kali Salwar (Black Trouser)[e]
- Lalten (Laltern)
- Intezar (Wait)
- Phoolon ki sajis (The Flowers’ Conspiracy)
- Garam Sut (Warm Suit)
- Mera Hamsafar (My Fellow Traveller)
- Paresaani ka sabab (The Reason for Worry)
Themes[edit]
Dhuan (Smoke), from which the collection takes its title, was first published in the Urdu magazine Saqi. The story deals with the awakening of sexual urges in a twelve-year old boy, Masud.[6] In Cuhe daan (Mousetrap), Manto depicts the early discovery of romantic love by teenages.[6]
Lalten (Laltern), Misri ki dali (A Piece of Rock Candy) and Namukamal Tahrir (Unfinished composition) are similar tales of attraction of a vacationing young man for a young mountain girl.[8]
Manto explores political issues in Matami Jalsa (Assembly in Mourning) which is a satire on the reaction of people to the news of the death of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. The story describes an assembly of people gathered to honour Ataturk following his death.[9] Taraqqi Pasand (Progressive), based by a true incident involving Rajinder Singh Bedi and Devindra Satyarthi, is a friendly ribbing on the Progressive Writers' Movement to which Manto was associated.[10]
He touches on social realism in Kali Salwar (Black Trouser) through the character of Sultana, a prostitute whose business is falling.[11] First published in Adab-i-Latif in Lahore, it was banned by the British government under section 292 of the Indian Penal Code on grounds of obscenity.[7]
Aiktras ki Aankh (An Actress’s Eye), Qabz (Constipation) and Paresaani ka sabab (The Reason for Worry) are sketches on the people of the Bombay film industry.[12]
See also[edit]
- Kali Salwar - a movie based on Manto’s story of the same name
Notes[edit]
- ^ first published in the magazine Saqi.[6]
- ^ first published in Atish Paray.[4]
- ^ a reprint of Ji Aaya Sahab from Atish Paray with a slightly different ending.[4]
- ^ first published in Atish Paray.[4]
- ^ first published in the annual number of Adab-i-Latif (Lahore).[7]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c Flemming 1985b, p. 152.
- ^ Flemming 1985, p. 41.
- ^ Jalil 2012, p. 45.
- ^ a b c d Flemming 1985, p. 42.
- ^ Flemming 1985, p. 113.
- ^ a b c Flemming 1985, p. 56.
- ^ a b Jalal 2013, p. 70.
- ^ Flemming 1985, p. 58.
- ^ Flemming 1985, p. 45.
- ^ Flemming 1985, p. 46.
- ^ Ispahani 1988, p. 186.
- ^ Flemming 1985, p. 65.
Cited sources[edit]
- Flemming, Leslie A. (1985). Another Lonely Voice: The Life and Works of Saadat Hassan Manto. Vanguard Books.
- Flemming, Leslie A. (1985b). "Manto Bibliography". Journal of South Asian Literature. 20 (2): 152–160. ISSN 0091-5637. JSTOR 40872787.
- Jalil, Rakhshanda (2012). "Loving Progress, Liking Modernity, Hating Manto". Social Scientist. 40 (11/12): 43–52. ISSN 0970-0293. JSTOR 23338869.
- Ispahani, Mahnaz (1988). "Saadat Hasan Manto". Grand Street. 7 (4): 183–193. doi:10.2307/25007150. ISSN 0734-5496. JSTOR 25007150.
- Jalal, Ayesha (2013). The Pity of Partition: Manto's Life, Times, and Work across the India-Pakistan Divide. Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-1-4008-4668-9.