What do you think?
Rate this book
Urdu: The Best Stories of Our Times
The Best Stories of Our Times, edited and translated by Rakhshanda Jalil, presents a kaleidoscopic vision of the current literary landscape by bringing together some of the finest contemporary writers of fiction. In these pages, we find stories about the land and its people in wide-ranging compassionate, sarcastic, whimsical, witty, tragic, but always thrilling and enchanting in equal measure.
The stories highlight the numerous histories, identities and themes that have been celebrated or challenged in the last few decades. Appearing in English for the first time, this landmark volume offers an exhilarating glimpse into Urdu literature today.
The stories highlight the numerous histories, identities and themes that have been celebrated or challenged in the last few decades. Appearing in English for the first time, this landmark volume offers an exhilarating glimpse into Urdu literature today.
195 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 3, 2023
4 people are currently reading
22 people want to read
About the author
Rakhshanda Jalil
49 books36 followersRakhshanda Jalil is a writer, critic and literary historian. Her published work comprises edited anthologies, among them a selection of Pakistani women writers entitled, Neither Night Nor Day; and a collection of esssays on Delhi, Invisible City: she is co-author of Partners in Freedom: Jamia Millia Islamia and Journey to a Holy Land: A Pilgrim s Diary. She is also a well-known translator, with eight published translations of Premchand, Asghar Wajahat, Saadat Hasan Manto, Shahryar, Intezar Hussain and Phanishwarnath Renu.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 26, 2023
Rating 4.5*
Review -
Urdu : The Best Stories of Our Times, edited and translated by Rakhshanda Jalil, a slim collection of 14 stories works like all good anthologies. It serves as a vantage point for literature in a certain language or from a certain region. It also comes with a disclaimer that the ‘selection’ termed best/greatest is subjective. But, what sets this collection apart is the focus on modern writings, mostly from 1990s onwards while omitting early stalwarts like Premchand and the four pillars of Urdu lit (Manto,Chugtai, Rajinder Singh Bedi, Krishan Chander). On themes, either timeless or topical, these stories break stereotypes we associate with the language - there will be romance, poetry, feasts with kebabs and biryani, Sufism, everything about Muslim milieu. Syed Muhammad Ashraf’s The Last Exile in this collection is a fine instance that illustrates this.
Using a train that stops in the middle of nowhere and an over-packed bus as vehicles in storytelling, Abdus Samad and Khurshid Akram show us how criminal apathy chokes our society that's stingy with empathy. A good chunk of the collection dwells on communal violence, but the variation in how this is portrayed in different stories is striking - either hinting subtly at communal riots that have taken place or raising questions or painting a poignant picture or even mocking at these factors that divide us. The derelict conditions in which the poor live and die is heartrending in stories ‘A Rat's Death’ by Zakia Mashhadi & ‘A Night's Paradise’ by Fayiz Riffat. Gulzar’s The Stone Age on loss of childhood & innocence to the sound of bombs & wrath of war is relevant like never before.
To see the lines - “Kaaga sab tan khaiyyo, chun chun khaiyyo maas, dui Naina mat khaiyyo Piya Milan ki aas” (feature in song Nadaan Parindey, movie Rockstar) serve as the basis of a love triangle in Qurratulain Hyder’s Halfway View was amazing.
The collection has a powerful opening in Surendra Prakash’s Scarecrow which borrows Hori, the protagonist of Premchand's Godan and portrays the hardships peasants face by depicting him as an old man toiling to keep his family afloat.
Life is Not a Story by Salaam Bin Razzaq turns the critical gaze at the Muslim society, how women are oppressed and men waylaid by a fanatical adherence to religion. This story reminded me a lot of Tamil writer Salma’s Women, Dreaming.
A Letter of Condolence for the Living by Khalid Jawed places a man with kidney stones, writhing in pain with an uncontrollable urge to pee, unable to find a place to relieve himself, in a utopian society that looks attractive outwardly but poses greater harm. Mildly flavoured like Jose Saramago's Death at Intervals, the only qualm I had with this story was that this intriguing piece doesn't appear in entirety in the collection, only an excerpt (which feels complete though) features here. Would have loved to read it till the end at the cost of a few extra pages in the book.
An excellent collection with brilliant translation (not only owing to a glitch free reading experience but felt from listening to Surendra Prakash’s story ‘Scarecrow’ in the original) and an introduction (with an analytical summary of the stories) that allows the reader to understand the intent behind the selection.
Review -
Urdu : The Best Stories of Our Times, edited and translated by Rakhshanda Jalil, a slim collection of 14 stories works like all good anthologies. It serves as a vantage point for literature in a certain language or from a certain region. It also comes with a disclaimer that the ‘selection’ termed best/greatest is subjective. But, what sets this collection apart is the focus on modern writings, mostly from 1990s onwards while omitting early stalwarts like Premchand and the four pillars of Urdu lit (Manto,Chugtai, Rajinder Singh Bedi, Krishan Chander). On themes, either timeless or topical, these stories break stereotypes we associate with the language - there will be romance, poetry, feasts with kebabs and biryani, Sufism, everything about Muslim milieu. Syed Muhammad Ashraf’s The Last Exile in this collection is a fine instance that illustrates this.
Using a train that stops in the middle of nowhere and an over-packed bus as vehicles in storytelling, Abdus Samad and Khurshid Akram show us how criminal apathy chokes our society that's stingy with empathy. A good chunk of the collection dwells on communal violence, but the variation in how this is portrayed in different stories is striking - either hinting subtly at communal riots that have taken place or raising questions or painting a poignant picture or even mocking at these factors that divide us. The derelict conditions in which the poor live and die is heartrending in stories ‘A Rat's Death’ by Zakia Mashhadi & ‘A Night's Paradise’ by Fayiz Riffat. Gulzar’s The Stone Age on loss of childhood & innocence to the sound of bombs & wrath of war is relevant like never before.
To see the lines - “Kaaga sab tan khaiyyo, chun chun khaiyyo maas, dui Naina mat khaiyyo Piya Milan ki aas” (feature in song Nadaan Parindey, movie Rockstar) serve as the basis of a love triangle in Qurratulain Hyder’s Halfway View was amazing.
The collection has a powerful opening in Surendra Prakash’s Scarecrow which borrows Hori, the protagonist of Premchand's Godan and portrays the hardships peasants face by depicting him as an old man toiling to keep his family afloat.
Life is Not a Story by Salaam Bin Razzaq turns the critical gaze at the Muslim society, how women are oppressed and men waylaid by a fanatical adherence to religion. This story reminded me a lot of Tamil writer Salma’s Women, Dreaming.
A Letter of Condolence for the Living by Khalid Jawed places a man with kidney stones, writhing in pain with an uncontrollable urge to pee, unable to find a place to relieve himself, in a utopian society that looks attractive outwardly but poses greater harm. Mildly flavoured like Jose Saramago's Death at Intervals, the only qualm I had with this story was that this intriguing piece doesn't appear in entirety in the collection, only an excerpt (which feels complete though) features here. Would have loved to read it till the end at the cost of a few extra pages in the book.
An excellent collection with brilliant translation (not only owing to a glitch free reading experience but felt from listening to Surendra Prakash’s story ‘Scarecrow’ in the original) and an introduction (with an analytical summary of the stories) that allows the reader to understand the intent behind the selection.
May 8, 2024
I enjoyed this collection of translated Urdu stories. My favorite tale was, Life is not a Story.
One thing I disliked was that the author included a story by Khaled Jawed, but only the first part of the story. Why do that? I think if the full story cannot be included in a collection, it shouldn’t be included at all. It was a bit of a tease.
One thing I disliked was that the author included a story by Khaled Jawed, but only the first part of the story. Why do that? I think if the full story cannot be included in a collection, it shouldn’t be included at all. It was a bit of a tease.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews