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Remembering the master: 10 quotes by Saadat Hasan Manto

TIMESOFINDIA.COM | Last updated on - May 11, 2021, 13:32 IST

1/10

On the filth of the mind

Outrageously rebellious, Manto's themes ranged widely—prostitution, real people in politics and power, god-men, poverty, and sexual taboos.

2/10

On the dirt of war

Born in 1912, he witnessed the country’s turmoil during the time leading up to the Partition. His most famous works are, Thada Gosht, Bu, Khol Do, and Toba Tek Singh.

3/10

On the gore of communalism

His writing period started in 1934, at the age of 22 when he translated works by Victor Hugo, Anton Chekov, Oscar Wilde, and Maxim Gorky, into Urdu. His favourite was French author Guy de Maupassant.

4/10

On the appreciation of art

His first original short story, Tamasha (1931), was based on the horrors of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.

5/10

On drawing parallels

A post-graduate degree from Aligarh Muslim University, Manto joined the Indian Progressive Writer’ Association, and he got published in national magazines.

6/10

On measuring hearts

He has also worked with the All India Radio in New Delhi as an Urdu service writer, but he only managed to last a year before falling out with NM Rashid (poet, and Director, AIR).

7/10

On escapism

He moved to Bombay in 1942 and worked as a script writer in the Hindi film industry.

8/10

On femininity

After 1948, he moved with his family to Lahore in Pakistan where he kept up his story writing, but also carved a niche in Pakistani theatre.

9/10

On freedom

He had six charges of obscenity filed against him by both the British imperialist government, and the later by the independent Indian government. In fact, on the day of his death, he was scheduled to appear at a hearing.

10/10

On shrouding the truth

He died in 1955 from liver cirrhosis at the age of 42. Over the course of his 24 years of work, Manto penned over 200 stories, five collections of radio dramas, two collections of sketches, one novel, eight film scripts, and three of collections of essays.

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