चिड़ी की दुक्की [Chidi Ki Dukki]

by Ismat Chughtai

Chidi ki Dukki is a collection of five stories by Ismat Chughtai. The book begins with a memoir written by Saadat Hasan Manto about Chughtai.

92 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Ismat Chughtai (Urdu: عصمت چغتائی) (August 1915 – 24 October 1991) was an eminent Urdu writer, known for her indomitable spirit and a fierce feminist ideology. She was considered the grand dame of Urdu fiction, Along with Rashid Jahan, Wajeda Tabassum and Qurratulain Hyder, Ismat’s work stands for the birth of a revolutionary feminist politics and aesthetics in twentieth century Urdu literature. She explored feminine sexuality, middle-class gentility, and other evolving conflicts in the modern Muslim world. Her outspoken and controversial style of writing made her the passionate voice for the unheard, and she has become an inspiration for the younger generation of writers, readers and intellectuals.

Reviews

[مومنہ❀ · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 🌟
Brilliant read!!!

[Shalini M]

Read and reviewed in September 2007

I had been aware of the name of Ismat Chugtai as a well known writer of hindi/urdu fiction, but had not had an occastion to read any of her works. When I found this collection of her short stories, I thought that it might be a good place to start, in the absence of a direct recommendation from someone who is aware of my taste :-)

The collection is titled 'ChiDi Ki Dukki' [The Two of Clubs], which is the first of the five stories in the collection. All the stories are based on marital relationships in middle class Muslim families. There are certain aspects which are typical of Muslim family settings, due to which I found the stories different from the little of hindi/urdu prose I have read so far. The first story had a bit of humour, and all of them projected the ironies of human life. I liked the stories, but did not find them very interesting. I will probably not read it again, but it was a good one-time experience, and I might explore other works of the author.

The collection had a foreward by another famous author, Manto. He starts with a question he had been asked by a few of his fans [why did he not marry Ismat], and devotes quite a space to his imagination of the events this eventuality might have led to. [BTW, both of them were already married when they first met, so this was just a wild question.] I found that rather absurd way to start an introduction, though later when he narrated his interaction with Ismat, thus describing her personality, it became an interesting narrative.

Till sometime back, I used to completely ignore the forewards and prologues of the books I was reading, in order to get to the story. But, of late, I have found an interest in reading these introductions. It gives me the opportunity to get a perspective from another person who is better informed [than I am :-)], and look at the broader context, the life and times of the author/poet whose work I am about to read, and probably enable me to appreciate it better.

[zayneb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Haste haste pait dukhne laga. The writing style is witty, the jokes are actually good, I laughed and loved and then laughed some more.
I love love love Aalimah and Abdul "hai"
Enemies to lovers ho toh aisa ho varna na ho.

[Harshit Gupta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ismat Chughtai often writes about women, and writes really well. Some of the stories just stick in your head, and it seems they'll remain for quite some time.