पाकिस्तानी कहानियां [Pakistani Kahaniya]

by Intizar Husain

Pākistānī Kahāniyān̲: Pākistānī Afsāne Ke Pacās Sāl by Intezar Hussain

314 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2012

About the author

Intizar Husain (1925–2016) was a journalist, short-story writer, and novelist, widely considered one of the most significant fiction writers in Urdu. Born in Dibai, Bulandshahr, in British-administered India, he migrated to Pakistan in 1947 and lived in Lahore. Besides Basti, he was the author of two other novels, Naya Gar (The New House), which paints a picture of Pakistan during the ten-year dictatorship of the Islamic fundamentalist General Zia-ul-Haq, and Agay Sumandar Hai (Beyond Is the Sea), which juxtaposes the spiraling urban violence of contemporary Karachi with a vision of the lost Islamic realm of al-Andalus. Collections of Husain’s celebrated short stories have appeared in English under the titles Leaves, The Seventh Door, A Chronicle of the Peacocks, and An Unwritten Epic.

Reviews

[Reading_ Tamishly · Rating 5 out of 5]

1st July 2021, thank you.

"We were prisoners of our own silences and were too far from each other even though we stayed closed."

The stories from various authors on different themes specifically based during the historical times including the partition, rural life and the changes that came along, the fast changing times, the customs and cultures explained and fictionalized. Some customs do turned out to be quite obsolete but were followed mostly as truce and for peacemaking amongst the particular tribes and communities.

Also, some of these stories play with your mind when they tell you dark fairytale retellings (Cinderella by Anwar Sajjad), magical realism (Surrounded by Deep Waters by Mansha Yaad), psychological (The Mughal Inn by Mirza Hamid Baig), philosophy (The Boat by Intizar Husain), disability (The Itch by Asif Farrukhi), violence in the name of honour/domestic violence (Honour by Jamal Abro), racism (History's Shroud by Amar Jaleel), law and how it works (The Thirty-fourth Door by Nasim Kharal), gender shaming and discrimination (The Crooked-footed Witch by Afzal Ahmad Randhawa and also my ultimate favourite in this collection!),

These stories are dark and tells about the different sufferings different characters go through due to unavoidable circumstances. Many of the characters are victims or made to be a part of some unfortunate events.

These stories deal with mental health disorders (Bhagwandas Darkhan, Millipede), how the helpless and women/children are taken advantage of (Bhagwandas Darkhan, Bhag Bhari), death (Atonement), and mostly violence towards the women/girls and the helpless.

My favourites from the collection include Fetters of Time (Mumtaz Mufti), Bhagwandas Darkhan (Shaukat Siddiqui), Millipede (Khalida Husain), The Capon Story (Masood Ash'ar), Surrounded by Deep Waters (Mansha Yaad), Soul Weary (Bano Qudsia), Virtue Rewarded (Hasan Manzar), The Three-eyed (Asad Muhammad Khan), Honor (Jamal Abro), History's Shroud (Amar Jaleel), The Thirty-fourth Door (Nasim Kharal), The Crooked-footed Witch (Afzal Ahmad Randhawa), The Horse-rider (Nasir Baloch), The Wolf (Farooq Sarwar) and The Day of Judgement (Ghaus Bahar).

[Danyal Effendi · Rating 5 out of 5]

its a wonderful collection of around 3 dozen short stories. I especially liked Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi's, Ashfaq Ahmed's & Bano Qudsia's. Besides urdu afsanay, it has few translated short stories of Sindhi, Punjabi, Saraiki, Pushto and Balochi, which are also interesting.

[Tariq Ahmad Khan · Rating 5 out of 5]

پاکستانی کہانیاں ۔۔۔۔ انتظار حسین، آصف فرخی
۔
قیام پاکستان کے پچاس سال مکمل ہونے پہ جناب آصف فرخی اور انتظار صاحب نے ان پچاس سالوں کے دوران لکھے گئے افسانوں میں سے ایک ایک انتخاب ترتیب دیا ہے۔ یاد رہے اس انتخاب میں تمام مصنفین کے وہ افسانے شامل ہیں جو قیام پاکستان کے بعد لکھے گئے
۔
۔
منٹو کے "کھول دو" سے شروع ہونے والے اس انتخاب کا ایک ایک افسانہ بہترین ہے۔ ہر افسانہ پڑھنے کے بعد آپ فیصلہ نہیں کر پاتے کہ یہ افسانہ زیادہ شاندار ہے یا اس سے پہلے جو پڑھا وہ۔ اس انتخاب میں سعادت حسن منٹو، غلام عباس، ممتاز مفتی ، حاجرہ مسرور، ممتاز شیریں، خالدہ حسین ، انور سجاد، اشفاق احمد ، منشا یاد بانو قدسیہ اور انہی جیسے دوسرے مہان اردو ادیبوں کے تئیس افسانے شامل ہیں۔اس کے علاوہ سندھی اور پنجابی کے تین تین، سرائیکی اور بلوچی کے ایک ایک اور پشتو کے دو بہترین افسانوں کے اردو ترجمے بھی اس انتخاب ہیں۔
۔
جو بات آپ مقامی زبانوں کے افسانوں کو پڑھتے محسوس کرتے ہیں وہ یہ کہ ان زبانوں کا ادب کہیں زیادہ اپنی جڑوں رسموں اور اور رواجوں سے جڑا ہے بنسبت اس انتخاب میں شامل اردو افسانوں کے۔
۔
۔
اردو ادب کے پڑھنے والوں کے لئے یہ کتاب ایک شاندار تحفہ ہے۔ ہر صاحب ذوق کو یہ کتاب لازمی پڑھنا چاہئے
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

[Richa Sharma · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good collection of 32 unique and thought provoking stories:

My Favorites - Khol Do, thal, Bhagwan Das darkhan, Bhagbhari, Gaato, Antar hot udaasi, tirlochan, khujli, Tarikh ka kafan, chutisva darwaza, mera baap, bhediya and mehshar.

Stories I didn't quite understand but I know they are great and would love to read some analysis about them to understand them better - Samay ka bandhan, kaffara, hajarpaya, Cinderella, kapas kahani, pani se bhara pani, matarani, songudiya, Siberia , gamle me khila hua shehar, mugar sarai, kashti

Ok types stories - Fancy hair cutting salon, pachim se chali purwa, sawab ka rishta, maang, pichalpairi, kikki ka sawar, rakh ki tapish

Stories I found due to this book - Sawari by khalida hussain, gadaria by ashfaq ahmed and aakhiri aadmi by intezzar hussain.

[Richa · Rating 4 out of 5]

यह एक उम्दा संस्करण है। उर्दू से अनुवाद भी अच्छा है। बस एक-दो कहानियाँ ऐसी ज़रूर हैं जो अनुवाद की बजाए उर्दू में ही अपना मर्म ज़ाहिर कर पायेंगी। कुछ कहानियाँ जो मुझे विशेषतः पसंद आयीं:
१ गातो - अशफ़ाक़ अहमद
२ अन्तर होत उदासी - बानो क़ुदसिया
३ चौतीसवाँ दरवाज़ा - नसीम खरल
४ पिछलपैरी - अफ़सल हुसैन रंधावा
५ खोल दो - सआदत हसन मंटो
६ समय का बंधन - मुमताज़ मुफ़्ती
७ तारीख़ का कफ़न - अमर जलील

[Waqar Ahmed · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great collection of Urdu short stories edited by the maestro himself Intizar Hussain and Asif Farrukhi. It was a great intro for me to Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi, Mansha Yad, and others. It has a few short stories translated into Urdu from Sindhi, Pashto, and Balochi languages at the end, and all of them are very good. 4/5.

[Mohammad Usama · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good

[Sandanamullai · Rating 5 out of 5]

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