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Ganjifa /گنجفہ
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About the author
Naiyer Masud
27 books25 followersNaiyer Masud (1936–2017) was an Urdu scholar and Urdu-language short story writer.
Naiyer Masud was born in 1936 in Lucknow. He did two separate PhD degrees in Urdu and Persian, and was a professor of Persian at Lucknow University. He started publishing his fictional work in the 1970s, of which four collections have appeared so far. Two collections of selected stories have appeared in English translation as Essence of Camphor and Snake Catcher, the former later also translated into Finnish, French, and Spanish. Besides fiction, he has several volumes of critical studies of classical Urdu literature to his credit and has also translated Kafka and numerous contemporary Iranian short stories. In 1977 he visited Tehran at the invitation of the Ministry of Culture, Government of Iran. He was the recipient, in 2008, of India’s highest literary award, the 17th Saraswati Samman.
Naiyer Masud was born in 1936 in Lucknow. He did two separate PhD degrees in Urdu and Persian, and was a professor of Persian at Lucknow University. He started publishing his fictional work in the 1970s, of which four collections have appeared so far. Two collections of selected stories have appeared in English translation as Essence of Camphor and Snake Catcher, the former later also translated into Finnish, French, and Spanish. Besides fiction, he has several volumes of critical studies of classical Urdu literature to his credit and has also translated Kafka and numerous contemporary Iranian short stories. In 1977 he visited Tehran at the invitation of the Ministry of Culture, Government of Iran. He was the recipient, in 2008, of India’s highest literary award, the 17th Saraswati Samman.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
April 2, 2024
Just when you get to know a character she dies. Every fourth or fifth page in some cases. Deep hopelessness and melancholy pervade every story. Often one is frustrated as much by the helplessness of the characters unable to fight fate and fortune as one is by their utter unwillingness to even try. Their misery appears as much circumstantial as self-inflicted; though perhaps that would be somewhat unfair an assessment in some situations. Inspired by Kafka, employing many techniques of the modern and post-modern short story, extolled and translated by the likes of Muhammad Umar Memon, unknown to most and praised by some in my circles (of whom also it soon becomes evident that a fair number have not really read him), I had been ambivalent towards Naiyer Masud. I must confess though that I found passages, stories, aspects and elements in this eleven story collection that I really liked as compared to Itr-e-Kafoor that I found quite obscure. I have, therefore, revised my opinion and it will be interesting to see if it undergoes further changes as I read more of him.
At the outset it needs to be stated that much as a chaste Lukhnawi diction and mannerisms characterize and lend elegance to the prose, which flows quite well, Masud's is a distinct style and technique in contemporary Urdu fiction. This collection of eleven stories has a certain common thread of adversity upon adversity confronting the protagonist, leaving him bewildered but somehow intact. However, it also offers sufficient variety of sub-themes and philosophical explorations to make it a rich and not monotonous menu.
The titular story 'Ganjifa' explores death (sudden, devastating, meaningless, all-draining), staggering loss and yet the human spirit's resilience - epitomized by both the protagonist and an invalid street entertainer and medicine seller - to somehow carry on. It is one of the saddest stories that I have read in Urdu literature and easily one of three best ones in the collection.
A Kafkaesque mystery permeates 'Bada Koora Ghar.' The garbage disposal area lies in the midst of the city; ostensibly built over someone's ancestral property which they are claiming. A story symbolic at multiple levels. Even vaguer and open to many interpretations is the story 'Baad Numa' that revolves around a quaint, occasionally operational weathervane that everyone has forgotten how to fix. 'Allam aur Baita' it appears is about nostalgia, the unreliability of memory, and of events repeating themselves in an unhappy sequence.
'Janasheen' is about a soothsayer and told from the perspective of his nephew who is once asked to treat a girl visited by djinns, and ends up marrying her in rather surreal circumstances. Unlike the other stories in the collection this one has a slight tinge of romance as also of the supernatural and is quite effective in its subtle and mysterious pursuit of its plot. It has a terrific ending. 'Paak Namoon Wala Pathar' also has elements of the miraculous as the narrator searches for a precious family heirloom - a stone that bestows great healing power but also leaves a dark trail. It could easily be a metaphor for so much as family genealogy, erosion of heritage, rise and fall of human fortunes and the relentlessness of time form important sub-themes.
'Dast-e-Shafa' is an engrossing period story around the fall of Oudh, a series of personal and civilizational tragedies from the perspective of a successful and much honored hakeem, and an exploration of the indigenous knowledge systems displaced by colonialism. At the same time, it offers a delicate love story and again something of the supernatural which makes it quite poignant. Easily one of the best stories in the collection. The escape from the realm of the mundane and the mundanely tortuous in Masud's stories it seems is possible only through the ethereal and the otherworldly.
'Kitaab Daar' has something of Borges in it. It revolves around a librarian. The characters in the story seem to be caught up in an eternal and largely unchanging space - of books, casual, brief and fleeting human interactions, and decay. 'Miskeenon Ka Ahata' is also very Borgesian, involving liberties with both time and space. A disenchanted son moves out of the parental abode and takes up a job in a self-contained residential enclosure where years go by though they appear like mere months; where a timelessness pervades; and where all the other residents and fellow-workers remain known and yet unknowable. 'Dunbala Gard' is about a chance encounter with an acquaintance, accidental possession of his bag, third person accounts of that acquaintance and his life and eventual death, his recollection through his relatives, and the amnesia around the location of his house. Loneliness, the impermanence (and purposelessness) of individual lives and their memories, the isolated modern existence, and unknowability of one person by another, the fragility of human bonds, are the themes explored quite well over here. 'Azariyan' dwells on how the tide and turmoil of life at time causes even the closest of relations to drift apart so that they lead lives in parallel, and yet remain oblivious to each other.
Nayyar Masud's stories are subtle, multi-tiered and complex as well as rich in symbolism. They flow smoothly but require thought and reflection for full appreciation. My initial reaction was that while I loved some of them I was left by others with impressions that I have described in the first para of this review. However, upon revisiting and examining the collection as a whole I find it powerful, touching and well-crafted. Masud has a distinctive voice and epitomizes a certain important phase in the modern Urdu short story, engaging with the existentialist woes that permeate modern life and thought with great flair and feeling.
At the outset it needs to be stated that much as a chaste Lukhnawi diction and mannerisms characterize and lend elegance to the prose, which flows quite well, Masud's is a distinct style and technique in contemporary Urdu fiction. This collection of eleven stories has a certain common thread of adversity upon adversity confronting the protagonist, leaving him bewildered but somehow intact. However, it also offers sufficient variety of sub-themes and philosophical explorations to make it a rich and not monotonous menu.
The titular story 'Ganjifa' explores death (sudden, devastating, meaningless, all-draining), staggering loss and yet the human spirit's resilience - epitomized by both the protagonist and an invalid street entertainer and medicine seller - to somehow carry on. It is one of the saddest stories that I have read in Urdu literature and easily one of three best ones in the collection.
A Kafkaesque mystery permeates 'Bada Koora Ghar.' The garbage disposal area lies in the midst of the city; ostensibly built over someone's ancestral property which they are claiming. A story symbolic at multiple levels. Even vaguer and open to many interpretations is the story 'Baad Numa' that revolves around a quaint, occasionally operational weathervane that everyone has forgotten how to fix. 'Allam aur Baita' it appears is about nostalgia, the unreliability of memory, and of events repeating themselves in an unhappy sequence.
'Janasheen' is about a soothsayer and told from the perspective of his nephew who is once asked to treat a girl visited by djinns, and ends up marrying her in rather surreal circumstances. Unlike the other stories in the collection this one has a slight tinge of romance as also of the supernatural and is quite effective in its subtle and mysterious pursuit of its plot. It has a terrific ending. 'Paak Namoon Wala Pathar' also has elements of the miraculous as the narrator searches for a precious family heirloom - a stone that bestows great healing power but also leaves a dark trail. It could easily be a metaphor for so much as family genealogy, erosion of heritage, rise and fall of human fortunes and the relentlessness of time form important sub-themes.
'Dast-e-Shafa' is an engrossing period story around the fall of Oudh, a series of personal and civilizational tragedies from the perspective of a successful and much honored hakeem, and an exploration of the indigenous knowledge systems displaced by colonialism. At the same time, it offers a delicate love story and again something of the supernatural which makes it quite poignant. Easily one of the best stories in the collection. The escape from the realm of the mundane and the mundanely tortuous in Masud's stories it seems is possible only through the ethereal and the otherworldly.
'Kitaab Daar' has something of Borges in it. It revolves around a librarian. The characters in the story seem to be caught up in an eternal and largely unchanging space - of books, casual, brief and fleeting human interactions, and decay. 'Miskeenon Ka Ahata' is also very Borgesian, involving liberties with both time and space. A disenchanted son moves out of the parental abode and takes up a job in a self-contained residential enclosure where years go by though they appear like mere months; where a timelessness pervades; and where all the other residents and fellow-workers remain known and yet unknowable. 'Dunbala Gard' is about a chance encounter with an acquaintance, accidental possession of his bag, third person accounts of that acquaintance and his life and eventual death, his recollection through his relatives, and the amnesia around the location of his house. Loneliness, the impermanence (and purposelessness) of individual lives and their memories, the isolated modern existence, and unknowability of one person by another, the fragility of human bonds, are the themes explored quite well over here. 'Azariyan' dwells on how the tide and turmoil of life at time causes even the closest of relations to drift apart so that they lead lives in parallel, and yet remain oblivious to each other.
Nayyar Masud's stories are subtle, multi-tiered and complex as well as rich in symbolism. They flow smoothly but require thought and reflection for full appreciation. My initial reaction was that while I loved some of them I was left by others with impressions that I have described in the first para of this review. However, upon revisiting and examining the collection as a whole I find it powerful, touching and well-crafted. Masud has a distinctive voice and epitomizes a certain important phase in the modern Urdu short story, engaging with the existentialist woes that permeate modern life and thought with great flair and feeling.
May 26, 2018
نیر مسعود صاحب کے اور افسانوں کی طرح اس مجموعہ کی خصوصی فضا بھی بہت پسند آئ . محلّوں ، دالانوں ، چھتوں اور صندوقوں کی اس دنیا پر مسعود صاحب کے اپنے پیارے گھر 'ادبستان ' کا عکس دکھتا ہے . افسانے ' بڑا کوڑا گھر ' ، 'پاک ناموں والا پتھر اور ' مسکینوں کا احاطہ ' خصوصاً قابل ذکر ہیں
April 15, 2024
انیس اشفاق کا خوبصورت ناول پری ناز اور پرندے پڑھتے ہوئے "طاؤس چمن کی مینا" افسانے کا ذکر ہوا تو اسی کے توسط سے اس کے مصنف نیّر مسعود صاحب سے تعارف ہوا۔ مزید معلومات کیں اور گوگل بابا کو کھنگالا تو پتا چلا کہ آپ اس افسانے سے سمیت اور بھی بہت سی کہانیوں کے خالق ہیں۔ وہیں یہ بھی پتا چلا کہ خوش قسمتی سے اجمل کمال صاحب کے ادارے نے ان کی کہانیوں کو پانچ خوبصورت پیپر بیک کتابوں کی صورت میں شائع کیا ہے۔
۔
زیر نظر کتاب "گنجفہ" بھی ان کے افسانوں کا مجموعہ ہے۔ اس مجموعہ میں مجموعی طور پر گیارہ افسانے شامل ہیں جن کے نام گنجفہ، بڑا کوڑا گھر،بادنما،علام اور بیٹا،جانشین،پاک ناموں والا پتھر،دست شفا،کتاب دار،مسکینوں کا احاطہ،دنبالہ گرد،اور آزاریان شامل ہیں۔یہ افسانے روزمرہ کا ہی تو بیان ہیں۔ جن کے کردار کسی اور ہی دنیا کے باسی معلوم ہوتے۔ اور یہ تمام افسانے اپنے عجیب و غریب کرداروں اور واقعات سمیت یوں آگے بڑھتے ، پڑھنے والے کو اپنے ٹرانس میں لے لیتے وہیں اچانک ایک دم سے اختتام تک پہنچ جاتے۔ انجام ایسا کہ قاری کچھ دیر تو ششدر رہ سا جات کہ ہوا کیا۔ آب یہ آپ منحصر کہ اس انجام یا اختتام کو کیا توجیہ نکالتے ہیں۔
۔
نیّر مسعود صاحب کی نثر ایسی خوبصورت اور اردو اتنی شائستہ ہے کہ انہیں پڑھتے وقت یوں لگتا جیسے ہر ہر فقرے پہ منہ میں شیرینی گھل گھل سی جاتی ہے۔ تمام فقرے اتنے نپے تُلے کہ مجال ہے جو ایک لفظ بھی پورے فقرے میں اضافی اور غیر ضروری محسوس ہو ۔اور ہاں ان کے افسانوں کے نام بھی عجیب اور منفرد قسم کے ہوتےہیں۔ جیسا کہ اوپر اس مجموعے کے افسانوں کے نام دیئے گئے ہیں۔
۔
خوبصورت نثر اور بہترین اردو کے ساتھ اگر آپ کو یہ جاننے کا شوق ہے کہ ایک خوبصورت کہانی کیسے لکھی جاتی ہے تو نیّر مسعود صاحب کو ضرور پڑھیں۔
۔
زیر نظر کتاب "گنجفہ" بھی ان کے افسانوں کا مجموعہ ہے۔ اس مجموعہ میں مجموعی طور پر گیارہ افسانے شامل ہیں جن کے نام گنجفہ، بڑا کوڑا گھر،بادنما،علام اور بیٹا،جانشین،پاک ناموں والا پتھر،دست شفا،کتاب دار،مسکینوں کا احاطہ،دنبالہ گرد،اور آزاریان شامل ہیں۔یہ افسانے روزمرہ کا ہی تو بیان ہیں۔ جن کے کردار کسی اور ہی دنیا کے باسی معلوم ہوتے۔ اور یہ تمام افسانے اپنے عجیب و غریب کرداروں اور واقعات سمیت یوں آگے بڑھتے ، پڑھنے والے کو اپنے ٹرانس میں لے لیتے وہیں اچانک ایک دم سے اختتام تک پہنچ جاتے۔ انجام ایسا کہ قاری کچھ دیر تو ششدر رہ سا جات کہ ہوا کیا۔ آب یہ آپ منحصر کہ اس انجام یا اختتام کو کیا توجیہ نکالتے ہیں۔
۔
نیّر مسعود صاحب کی نثر ایسی خوبصورت اور اردو اتنی شائستہ ہے کہ انہیں پڑھتے وقت یوں لگتا جیسے ہر ہر فقرے پہ منہ میں شیرینی گھل گھل سی جاتی ہے۔ تمام فقرے اتنے نپے تُلے کہ مجال ہے جو ایک لفظ بھی پورے فقرے میں اضافی اور غیر ضروری محسوس ہو ۔اور ہاں ان کے افسانوں کے نام بھی عجیب اور منفرد قسم کے ہوتےہیں۔ جیسا کہ اوپر اس مجموعے کے افسانوں کے نام دیئے گئے ہیں۔
۔
خوبصورت نثر اور بہترین اردو کے ساتھ اگر آپ کو یہ جاننے کا شوق ہے کہ ایک خوبصورت کہانی کیسے لکھی جاتی ہے تو نیّر مسعود صاحب کو ضرور پڑھیں۔
August 9, 2019
Brilliant author inspired by Kafka . Has successfully adapted Kafka's style to Urdu afsanay. His short stories have the haunting allure about them. Seekers of existentialist literature in Urdu wouldn't be disappointed.
August 6, 2019
A slow read infused with saudade that made me nostalgic for the holidays spent at my grandmother’s in Lucknow. Those long summer afternoons in her rose garden where I’d sit under a gulmohar tree and read, the evenings spent in and around Hazratgunj, the melancholic beauty of Lucknow.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews