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Jaray Ki Chandani / جاڑے کی چاندنی
غلام عباس دوسرا کا افسانوی مجموعہ جس میں ان کا شہرہ آفاق افسانہ ’اوورکوٹ‘ شامل ہے۔ اس مجموعے پر غلام عباس کو آدم جی ایوارڈ سے نوازا گیا۔
دیگر افسانوں میں اس کی بیوی، بھنور، بامبے والا، سایہ، سرخ جلوس، فینسی ہیئر کٹنگ سیلون، بردہ فروش، تنکےکا سہارا، پتلی بائی، مکرجی بابو کی ڈائری، ایک درد مند دل، دو تماشے، غازی مرد شامل ہیں۔
دیگر افسانوں میں اس کی بیوی، بھنور، بامبے والا، سایہ، سرخ جلوس، فینسی ہیئر کٹنگ سیلون، بردہ فروش، تنکےکا سہارا، پتلی بائی، مکرجی بابو کی ڈائری، ایک درد مند دل، دو تماشے، غازی مرد شامل ہیں۔
- GenresFictionShort Stories
160 pages, Hardcover
First published July 1, 1960
4 people are currently reading
112 people want to read
About the author
Ghulam Abbas
52 books35 followersGhulam Abbas (Urdu: غلام عباس ) was an Urdu short story writer. His influence has been both long and deep. In his short stories he often exposes shortcomings, weaknesses and hypocrisy in human beings. But his tone is never sarcastic or venomous.
He was a great admirer of the Russian short story tradition.
His love for poetry, specially Urdu poetry was abiding and profound, but he never ventured into it himself seriously.
Abbas’ fame is purely because of his literary genius, as he became popular without associating himself or depending on any of the literary movement or group.
His short stories Anandi and Overcoat earned him international fame. Jaaday ki Chandni and Kan ras are his famous books containing remarkable short stories.
He died in 1982 in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan.
He was a great admirer of the Russian short story tradition.
His love for poetry, specially Urdu poetry was abiding and profound, but he never ventured into it himself seriously.
Abbas’ fame is purely because of his literary genius, as he became popular without associating himself or depending on any of the literary movement or group.
His short stories Anandi and Overcoat earned him international fame. Jaaday ki Chandni and Kan ras are his famous books containing remarkable short stories.
He died in 1982 in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 2, 2020
The second volume of the short stories,of Ghulam Abbas. It is a superb collection. His characters are mostly working class people,from the backstreets,and the alleys.
They include the downtrodden,the fallen women,and those struggling with the harsh realities of survival. His stories are consistently good,I was riveted.
They include the downtrodden,the fallen women,and those struggling with the harsh realities of survival. His stories are consistently good,I was riveted.
January 21, 2017
Writing isn't that good but moral is great.
Don't judge people by their appearance!
The plot is almost boring to me. But it gets interesting after the half of the story.
Don't judge people by their appearance!
The plot is almost boring to me. But it gets interesting after the half of the story.
December 27, 2017
ﺍﻭﻭﺭﮐﻮﭦ' یاد آتا ہے کہ کبھی بچپن میں پڑھی تھی۔ مگر کیا خوب کہانی تھی کہ کبھی بھلائی نہ جا سکی۔ اگر "نئی روشنی" اس سے متاثر نہ ہوسکی تو شاید انھیں چھوٹی چھوٹی خوشیوں کو ناکام خواہشات کی بھینٹ چڑھنے کے درد کا اندازہ نہیں ہے۔
اس مجموعے میں شامل باقی افسانے بہت مختلف قسم کا اثر چھوڑتے ہیں. انکی کہانی چلتی جاتی ہے مگر اچانک ختم ہوتی ہے اور قاری خود حیران رہ جاتا ہے کہ کیا یہی وہ سب کچھ ہے جو ہم زندگی کی اصل کہانیاں ہیں. یہاں پر ہمیں زمیں و آسمان کے قلابے ملتے نظر نہیں آتے. بلا شبہ موصوف عام آدمی کے کہانی کار ہیں.
عمدہ افسانے تھے.
اس مجموعے میں شامل باقی افسانے بہت مختلف قسم کا اثر چھوڑتے ہیں. انکی کہانی چلتی جاتی ہے مگر اچانک ختم ہوتی ہے اور قاری خود حیران رہ جاتا ہے کہ کیا یہی وہ سب کچھ ہے جو ہم زندگی کی اصل کہانیاں ہیں. یہاں پر ہمیں زمیں و آسمان کے قلابے ملتے نظر نہیں آتے. بلا شبہ موصوف عام آدمی کے کہانی کار ہیں.
عمدہ افسانے تھے.
July 24, 2018
ساٹھ کی دہائی میں غلام عباس نے جن موضوعات پر افسانے لکھے تھے، ان موضوعات پر اب تک بہت کچھ لکھا جا چکا ہے اس لئے پہلی نظر میں اس کتاب کے افسانے کچھ پھیکے پھیکے سے محسوس ہوتے ہیں۔
لکھنے کا انداز بھی سیدھا سادا سا ہے۔ ۔ ۔ پہلے جزیات و منظر نگاری سے کہانی کا ماحول بنایا، آخر میں اصل بات قصے میں ڈال کر پڑھنے والے کو متاثر کر دیا۔ ۔ ۔ اللہ اللہ خیر سلا۔
چند ایک افسانوں میں بظاہر کوئی نقطہء اختتام بھی نہیں۔
مگر ہینگ اور پھٹکڑی نہ لگنے کے باوجود بھی افسانوں کا رنگ خاصا گہرا ہے جس کی وجہ سے غلام عباس بڑے لکھنے والے ٹھہرے ہیں اور ان کے اسی انداز کو بعد میں بہت سے لکھنے والوں نے اپنایا ہے۔ (یہ بات دوسری ہے کہ نقل بمطابق اصل کے اس انبار میں غلام عباس کھوئے سے گئے)۔
المختصر، تمام تر ’عام پنے‘ کے باوجود کتاب کے چند افسانے ہمیشہ زندہ رہنے لائق ہیں جن میں سلیبس زدہ ’اووکوٹ‘ سر فہرست ہے۔ اس کے علاوہ اس کی بیوی، بھنور، بامبے والا، فینسی ہیئر کٹنگ سیلون، ایک درد مند دل بھی بے حد خوبصورت افسانے ہیں۔
تصنع کے بغیر کوئی تحریر متاثر کن کیسے ہوسکتی ہے، یہ دیکھنے کے لئے غلام عباس کو ضرور پڑھیں۔
لکھنے کا انداز بھی سیدھا سادا سا ہے۔ ۔ ۔ پہلے جزیات و منظر نگاری سے کہانی کا ماحول بنایا، آخر میں اصل بات قصے میں ڈال کر پڑھنے والے کو متاثر کر دیا۔ ۔ ۔ اللہ اللہ خیر سلا۔
چند ایک افسانوں میں بظاہر کوئی نقطہء اختتام بھی نہیں۔
مگر ہینگ اور پھٹکڑی نہ لگنے کے باوجود بھی افسانوں کا رنگ خاصا گہرا ہے جس کی وجہ سے غلام عباس بڑے لکھنے والے ٹھہرے ہیں اور ان کے اسی انداز کو بعد میں بہت سے لکھنے والوں نے اپنایا ہے۔ (یہ بات دوسری ہے کہ نقل بمطابق اصل کے اس انبار میں غلام عباس کھوئے سے گئے)۔
المختصر، تمام تر ’عام پنے‘ کے باوجود کتاب کے چند افسانے ہمیشہ زندہ رہنے لائق ہیں جن میں سلیبس زدہ ’اووکوٹ‘ سر فہرست ہے۔ اس کے علاوہ اس کی بیوی، بھنور، بامبے والا، فینسی ہیئر کٹنگ سیلون، ایک درد مند دل بھی بے حد خوبصورت افسانے ہیں۔
تصنع کے بغیر کوئی تحریر متاثر کن کیسے ہوسکتی ہے، یہ دیکھنے کے لئے غلام عباس کو ضرور پڑھیں۔
January 12, 2026
In my endeavour to systematically read and fill any gaps as far as the writings of major Urdu writers is concerned I am reading Ghulam Abbas these days - one of our most celebrated writers of afsanas. Known very well for some excellent and widely read short stories it has been a pleasure to get to know his oeuvre more extensively and get a better sense of his thematic preoccupations, his style and his craft. To my mind Ghulam Abbas is a writer with a light touch who carefully avoided overwrought prose, overwriting and melodrama. His stores are more often than not scenes from ordinary lives, sometimes with underlying tension and climax, and as as frequently not. He has vast palette when it comes to the background of his characters, a keen eye, and a great propensity to write without much fuss. Yet often his stories still have an element of surprise and none of them are predictable, even if some taper off more as a life sketches rather than stories as such. Irony often plays a major role, but the touch is always light and minimalist.
I provide a brief description of the fourteen stories in this second anthology of his stories - Jaray ki Chandni - which was published in 1960. The idea is to provide a flavour of their nature and impact, and not at all to summarise or to provide an exhaustive critical assessment. I will not follow the order in which they appear but will first describe those which I found most powerful.
"Overcoat" is of course one of his most well-known stories and one of his saddest, bringing to us in the lasting description of the young dandy jauntily walking along the Mall (Lahore resonates so frequently in Ghulam Abbas's stories) and his shocking fate, all our answered questions about chances the impermanence of life, and the precious nature of every happily lived moment.
"Burda Farosh" is a brilliant and scathing story with such a remarkable twist which while showcasing the tragic lives of abducted girl-children brutally exposes all those women and men that callously treat them as chattel. The final scene with the two ageing claimants to the young girl Reshman who simply wants a life of peace, and the madam called Mai Jammi who trades in her flesh, is heartrending as well as such a remarkable capturing of life in all its brutality. This is a story that ought to be much more widely known and discussed.
"Saaya" is a delicate narration of ordinary lives that get intertwined and become symbiotic and nourish and nurture each other. Subhan runs a little moveable shoe close to a lawyer's house in the outskirts of the city and through a reciprocal relationship of generosity and mutual care comes to become a part of the lawyer's extended family as he learns to return his kindness with deep and empathetic care for his and his children's welfare. Again we see that in Ghluam Abbas's world view kindness and benevolence play an important role and selfishness, exploitation and cynicism don't always prevail.
"Bhanwar" explores piety and a will to do good by others and yet much as one would expect the protagonist who is pious and likes to preach and especially tries to rescue fallen women to turn out to be a lecherous man himself. But unlike Manto who would have likely shown us that dark facet of humans, Ghulam Abbas's Haji Shafaat Ahmad Khan persists with his endeavour to rehabilitate a young courtesan and his integrity ultimately attracts her sister as well to seek his help and refuge. This is an uplifting story of righteousness in the face of adversity, and of righteousness triumphing.
"Fancy Haircutting Saloon" is another very well known stories of Ghulam Abbas due to the poignant irony of how what started as an equal partnership of barbers is reduced to something far less enticing for most of them and a third party opportunist making the most of their discord. The symbolism of course is significant.
"Uss Ki Biwi" explores complexities of human psychology with a young man mourning the loss of an unfaithful wife and seek solace in the arms of prostitute and yet their relationship being one that is far from carnal is more empathetic and compassionate. It's the most Mantoesque story in this volume.
"Bombay Walla" is a deft critique of how what starts out as relatively midl straight-laced attitudes can take on more hideous and violent forms of intolerance and adversely impact the most innocent amongst us - in this case a small-time peddler fond of taking on different disguises who faces the ire of retirees in a lower middle class neighbourhood who like to dwell on the decline of society's moral standards. How intolerance can grow, spread and become sinister is very well captured.
"Surkh Jaloos" is more cynical as it shows how a couple of hotel employees con a rich American woman called Miss Gilbert - a kind of a disaster tourist visiting the country in the hope of seeing protest marches - by orchestrating a protest for her consumption and making money of it. The twist comes when the mock procession actually inspires a genuine one as an unintended consequence.
"Tinkay ka Sahara" shows how an entire neighbourhood takes up the responsibility of supporting the widow of an impoverished Syed and her large brood, and hough certain unpleasantness occurs at times, what often prevails is kindness.
"Putli Bai" is about youthful infatuation, even obsession, with a woman that leads to very unexpected consequences many years later.
"Mukarjee Babu Ki Diary" is one of the stories set in London and shows Ghulam Abbas very much in sync with the city's geography and way of life and describes how a man with a very transaction approach to life approaches various women of casual acquaintance for an evening's company.
"Aik Dardmand Dil" is about idealism confounded as a young man heads back home with his young English life in order to contribute to society but is forced by circumstances to start doing something quite mundane and unrelated to eke a living - ironically his "London Ballroom Dancing" enterprise is quite the antithesis of what he wanted to do in his newly liberated post-colonial homeland.
"Do Tamashay" is a powerful expose of how real tragedies and destitution often moves us less than manufactured ones.
"Ghazi Mard" sensitively explores the doubts and fears that crop up in the heart of a poor imam of a mosque's blind and orphaned daughter married to a young man who decided to do so out of charity but remains steadfast to her and how she assuages her apprehensions through faith, love and devotion.
Lightly and deftly Ghulam Abbas unravels for us multifarious ordinary lives and displays not just dark, malicious and cynical facets but also devotion, service, kindness and empathy which are indeed the warp and woof of collective human existence. Seemingly simple and told simply, the stories often carry a twist, can be deeply ironical and are frequently capable of surprising. But as often they can just be a scene from life - uncomplicated and yet enigmatic, flowing, with no tied up ends.
I provide a brief description of the fourteen stories in this second anthology of his stories - Jaray ki Chandni - which was published in 1960. The idea is to provide a flavour of their nature and impact, and not at all to summarise or to provide an exhaustive critical assessment. I will not follow the order in which they appear but will first describe those which I found most powerful.
"Overcoat" is of course one of his most well-known stories and one of his saddest, bringing to us in the lasting description of the young dandy jauntily walking along the Mall (Lahore resonates so frequently in Ghulam Abbas's stories) and his shocking fate, all our answered questions about chances the impermanence of life, and the precious nature of every happily lived moment.
"Burda Farosh" is a brilliant and scathing story with such a remarkable twist which while showcasing the tragic lives of abducted girl-children brutally exposes all those women and men that callously treat them as chattel. The final scene with the two ageing claimants to the young girl Reshman who simply wants a life of peace, and the madam called Mai Jammi who trades in her flesh, is heartrending as well as such a remarkable capturing of life in all its brutality. This is a story that ought to be much more widely known and discussed.
"Saaya" is a delicate narration of ordinary lives that get intertwined and become symbiotic and nourish and nurture each other. Subhan runs a little moveable shoe close to a lawyer's house in the outskirts of the city and through a reciprocal relationship of generosity and mutual care comes to become a part of the lawyer's extended family as he learns to return his kindness with deep and empathetic care for his and his children's welfare. Again we see that in Ghluam Abbas's world view kindness and benevolence play an important role and selfishness, exploitation and cynicism don't always prevail.
"Bhanwar" explores piety and a will to do good by others and yet much as one would expect the protagonist who is pious and likes to preach and especially tries to rescue fallen women to turn out to be a lecherous man himself. But unlike Manto who would have likely shown us that dark facet of humans, Ghulam Abbas's Haji Shafaat Ahmad Khan persists with his endeavour to rehabilitate a young courtesan and his integrity ultimately attracts her sister as well to seek his help and refuge. This is an uplifting story of righteousness in the face of adversity, and of righteousness triumphing.
"Fancy Haircutting Saloon" is another very well known stories of Ghulam Abbas due to the poignant irony of how what started as an equal partnership of barbers is reduced to something far less enticing for most of them and a third party opportunist making the most of their discord. The symbolism of course is significant.
"Uss Ki Biwi" explores complexities of human psychology with a young man mourning the loss of an unfaithful wife and seek solace in the arms of prostitute and yet their relationship being one that is far from carnal is more empathetic and compassionate. It's the most Mantoesque story in this volume.
"Bombay Walla" is a deft critique of how what starts out as relatively midl straight-laced attitudes can take on more hideous and violent forms of intolerance and adversely impact the most innocent amongst us - in this case a small-time peddler fond of taking on different disguises who faces the ire of retirees in a lower middle class neighbourhood who like to dwell on the decline of society's moral standards. How intolerance can grow, spread and become sinister is very well captured.
"Surkh Jaloos" is more cynical as it shows how a couple of hotel employees con a rich American woman called Miss Gilbert - a kind of a disaster tourist visiting the country in the hope of seeing protest marches - by orchestrating a protest for her consumption and making money of it. The twist comes when the mock procession actually inspires a genuine one as an unintended consequence.
"Tinkay ka Sahara" shows how an entire neighbourhood takes up the responsibility of supporting the widow of an impoverished Syed and her large brood, and hough certain unpleasantness occurs at times, what often prevails is kindness.
"Putli Bai" is about youthful infatuation, even obsession, with a woman that leads to very unexpected consequences many years later.
"Mukarjee Babu Ki Diary" is one of the stories set in London and shows Ghulam Abbas very much in sync with the city's geography and way of life and describes how a man with a very transaction approach to life approaches various women of casual acquaintance for an evening's company.
"Aik Dardmand Dil" is about idealism confounded as a young man heads back home with his young English life in order to contribute to society but is forced by circumstances to start doing something quite mundane and unrelated to eke a living - ironically his "London Ballroom Dancing" enterprise is quite the antithesis of what he wanted to do in his newly liberated post-colonial homeland.
"Do Tamashay" is a powerful expose of how real tragedies and destitution often moves us less than manufactured ones.
"Ghazi Mard" sensitively explores the doubts and fears that crop up in the heart of a poor imam of a mosque's blind and orphaned daughter married to a young man who decided to do so out of charity but remains steadfast to her and how she assuages her apprehensions through faith, love and devotion.
Lightly and deftly Ghulam Abbas unravels for us multifarious ordinary lives and displays not just dark, malicious and cynical facets but also devotion, service, kindness and empathy which are indeed the warp and woof of collective human existence. Seemingly simple and told simply, the stories often carry a twist, can be deeply ironical and are frequently capable of surprising. But as often they can just be a scene from life - uncomplicated and yet enigmatic, flowing, with no tied up ends.
August 1, 2020
Didn't like any of these too much. Some stories are easily forgettable. The only one that moved me was "Bombay wala". That one made me tear up a bit.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews