Saadat Hasan Manto was a well known Indo-Pakistani writer, playwright and author. Manto carved a niche for himself with his unconventional writing style. Let’s see some interesting facts about Saadat Hasan Manto, his personal life, his journey as a writer and his death.
Contents
Biography/Wiki
Saadat Hasan Manto was born on May 11, 1912 in the village of Paproudi, Samrala, Ludhiana, Punjab, British India. His nationality was Indo-Pakistani because before the partition of India, he was in India and after the partition of India and Pakistan, his family immigrated to Pakistan and became Pakistani. He is famous for writing plays, novels, short stories, radio plays, essays and personal sketches in Urdu. Manto wrote extensively about the harsh realities of society, and his writing style was predominantly unconventional. Abdul Bari Alig, a scholar and controversial writer, encouraged Sadat Hasan to read French and Russian authors; and henceforth, he began to write stories. His life was full of struggle. Saadat Hasan Manto was tried six times, in both India and Pakistan, on charges of immorality in his writing.
Family & Children
Sadat Hasan Manto was born into a middle-class Islamic family in the predominantly Sikh city of Ludhiana in British India to Ghulam Hasan Manto and Sardar Begum. His father was a judge in the local court. He was ethnically Kashmiri, and he was so proud to be Kashmiri that he once wrote to Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru that being ‘beautiful’ was synonymous with being ‘Kashmiri’.
Childhood photo of Saadat Hasan Mantle
Manto was a citizen of both India and Pakistan because after the partition of India and Pakistan, his family moved to the city of Lahore, Pakistan. In the year 1936, his marriage was arranged by his parents with Safia Deen (later Safia Manto); who was also born on May 11, but four years after Manto’s birth, 1916. In the same 1936, Manto wrote a comprehensive essay on his marriage, titled Meri Shaadi (My Wedding).
Saadat Hasan Mantle with his wife Safia
Saadat Hasan Mantle with his wife Safia
Saadat Hasan Manto with his wife Safia (left) and sister-in-law Zakia Hamid Jalal
Saadat and Safia had a son, Arif, who died in infancy. The death of his son devastated Saadat and Safia. After that, they had three daughters, Nighat Manto, Nuzhat Manto, and Nusrat Manto.
Saadat Hasan Mantle with his daughters
Mantle with his wife Safia (left), sister-in-law Zakia Hamid Jalal and their baby Nighat in Mumbai
Sadat Hasan Mantle with his daughter
Sadat Hasan Manto’s daughters with Indian director Nandita Das (surrounded)
After the partition of India, Manto moved to Pakistan in January 1948. Initially, Manto opposed partition and even refused to go to the newly formed Pakistan, despite being a Muslim. One night, when he was drinking with his Hindu colleagues, one of them commented: “If it weren’t for the fact that they were friends, I would have killed Manto.” The next day, Manto decided to leave the country and took his family to Lahore.
The partition of India
Career
In 1933, at the age of 21, Saadat Hasan Manto’s life took a turn when he met Abdul Bari Alig, a scholar and controversial writer, in Amritsar. It was Abdul Bari Alig who encouraged him to read French and Russian authors. He was so influenced by Abdul Bari that he decided to join Aligarh Muslim University. Manto graduated and postgraduated from Aligarh Muslim University.
Prof. Abdul Bari Alig
It was through the study of Western authors that he learned the art of story writing and, in his early 20s, he translated French, Russian and English short stories into Urdu. Manto’s first story was ‘Sarguzasht-e-Aseer’ (A Prisoner’s Story), which was an Urdu translation of ‘The Last Day of a Condemned Man’ by Victor Hugo.
The last day of a condemned by Victor Hugo
Sadat Hasan Manto generally preferred to write an entire story in one sitting. Most of his subjects tended to be those on the fringes of society. While studying at Aligarh Muslim University, Manto became associated with the ‘Indian Progressive Writers Association’ (IPWA). It was there, at Aligarh Muslim University, that he wrote his second story ‘Inqilaab Pasand’, which was published in the ‘Aligarh magazine’ in March 1935.
Passing Inqilab of Sadat Hasan Cloak
Then in 1941, he joined the ‘All India Radio Urdu Service’, where he published more than four collections of radio plays: ‘Aao’, ‘Manto Ke Drame’, ‘Janaze’ and ‘Teen Moti Auratein’.
Radio Works by Saadat Hasan Mantle
Teenager Moti Auratein of Saadat Hasan Mantle
Manto also wrote short stories like ‘Dhuan’, ‘Manto Ke Afsane’ etc. The first collection of essays by him was ‘Manto Ke Mazameen’.
Dhuan of Saadat Hasan Cloak
In 1942, due to some differences with the director of All India Radio, he quit his job and returned to Bombay, and again started working with the film industry, which was his best stage in screenwriting, giving films like ‘Shikari’, ‘Aatth Din’, ‘Mirza Ghalib’ and ‘Chal Chal Re Naujawan’.
Shikari (1946)
Aath Din (1946)
Shawl Shawl Re Naujawan (1944)
Mirza Ghalib (1954)
In 1947, he and his family moved to Lahore, Pakistan. While in Lahore, Manto became associated with several prominent intellectuals including ‘Nasir Kazmi’, ‘Faiz Ahmad Faiz’, ‘Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi’ and ‘Ahmad Rahi’ among others. These intellectuals would gather at Lahore’s iconic ‘Pak Tea House’ and engage in passionate political arguments and literary debates.
Pak Tea House, Lahore
In the early 1950s, Mantle wrote essays entitled ‘Letters to Uncle Sam’ about Pakistan’s fate in international relations. In one such essay, he predicted a future in which everything, music and art, literature and poetry, would be censored. In another letter to Uncle Sam, he wrote: “You wouldn’t believe, man, that despite being the author of 20, 22 books, I don’t have a house to live in.”
Letter from Saadat Hasan Mantle to Uncle Sam
Controversy
Sadat Hasan Manto was tried for obscenity in India and Pakistan; three times in India (under section 292 of the Indian Penal Code before 1947) for his writings (‘Dhuan’, ‘Bu’ and ‘Kali Shalwar’) and three times in Pakistan (under the Pakistani Penal Code after 1947) for his writings (‘Khol Do,’ ‘Thanda Gosht’ and ‘Upar Neeche Darmiyaan’). However, he was only fined in one case.
Death
Manto became addicted to alcohol, which became the reason for his death. He died of multiple organ failure due to excessive alcohol consumption in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan at the age of 42, on January 18, 1955.
Nearly six months before his death, Manto had composed his epitaph, which read: “Here lies Saadat Hasan Manto and with him lie buried all the secrets and mysteries of the art of story-writing.” Beneath mounds of dirt, he lies, still wondering which of the two is the better story writer: him or God. However, it was never used on his tombstone.
Epitaph of Saadat Hasan Cloak
After Manto’s death, his life story became the subject of intense introspection and discussion.
Award and recognitions
- On August 14, 2012, he was posthumously awarded the ‘Nishan-e-Imtiaz’ by the government of Pakistan.
Nishan-e-Imtiaz
- On the occasion of the centenary of his birth, the play ‘Ek Kutte Ki Kahani’ by the Danish Iqbal presented Manto from a new perspective.
- On the 50th anniversary of his death, in January 2005, Manto was commemorated on a Pakistani postage stamp.
Postage stamp of Saadat Hasan Mantle
- In 2015, a Pakistani biographical drama film titled ‘Mantle’ was released, directed by Sarmad Sultan Khoosat.
- In 2017, a Bollywood film with the same title was made directed by Nandita Das and starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui as Mantle.
Favourite things
- Sadat Hasan Manto liked to eat Gajjar Ka Halwa (an Indian sweet dish made from carrots).
- He liked to write with silver-capped Sheaffer pens.
- Manto preferred to wear gold embroidered Juttis (shoes).
- His favorite destination was Bombay, present-day Bombay.
Facts
- Sadat Hasan Manto smoked and also drank alcohol.
Saadat Hasan Mantle smoking
- His hobbies were reading, writing, and traveling.
Categories: News
Source: dienchau2.edu.vn
