The unforgettables: A bard and a story teller

ISLAMABAD:

One told stories ruthlessly, laying bare the social ills. The other spoke defiantly, and stood for people’s rights. Both — story writer Saadat Hasan Manto and poet Habib Jalib — were the subject of discussion at the ILF on Saturday.

Journalist Mujahid Barelvi, moderating the session, on Jalib read out excerpts from his poetry, a sharp commentary on social and political culture of the times he lived in, which evoked cheers and laughs from the audience. Journalist Ayaz Amir called his poetry “consciousness of age”. He chose a difficult path - a road that was strewn with difficulties, said Poet Zehra Nigah.

“Jalib sacrificed his tendency to write ghazal and instead focused on peoples issues,” said Nigah adding that he wrote against dictators of the time.

He did not forgive the elected leaders when they went against the people.

Ayaz Amir said Jalib had a “Byronic figure with a romantic persona-,” adding that he “embodied his age.”  He said without having support of media as we have today his poetry became hugely popular. Dr Arfa Sayeda Zehra said apart from his popular idiom, his thoughts and courage to express those thoughts should also be appreciated.

In the other session on Manto, the launch of “Poora Manto” (Volumes I and II) and the film “Mein Manto” saw a big turnout as well.

Harbouring sentimental associations with Manto, the panel delved into a discussion about the acceptability of his themes.

Forever drowned in debates of propriety or the lack thereof, Manto’s masterpieces were relegated to the shadiest library corners and alienated from national syllabi for the most part.

This is curious, said Masood Ashar, for he focused more on stripping social reality naked to the bone, rather than providing racy thrills. That this anthology excludes some of his controversial works like Shikari Auratein resonates with such apprehensions — but the volumes’ goal was to make Manto accessible to the reader, clarified Sarmad Khoosat. The film succeeds in contextualising Manto’s body of work with his life narrative and slow decline, a feat rarely achieved before.

(With additional input from Aimen Bajwa)

Published in The Express Tribune, April 27^th, 2014.