Toba Tek Singh, the short story by Saadat Hasan Manto, is almost an autobiography of what the author, and probably many others, felt about partition. What we read as an instance in history was brought to life by the stories this man wrote. It’s screwed up how we glorify the words that people leave behind, yet turn a deaf ear when they scream the same from rooftops. Manto was, and still remains, one of the most honest writers we’ve had the pleasure to read.
Here’s a tribute to the man who saw national boundaries, for what they were – Shadow Lines.
His epitaph, that he penned, said:
Here lies buried Saadat Hasan Manto in whose bosom are enshrined all the secrets and art of short story writing. Buried under mounds of earth, even now he is contemplating whether he is a greater short story writer or God.
Saadat sahib, if we could tell you how much we contemplate the same.
Design Credit: Mir Suhail