‘In my stories I’ve put down everything with objectivity. Now, if some people find them obscene let them go to hell. It’s my belief that experiences can never be obscene if they are based on authentic realities of life’
- Ismat ke Shahkar Afsane This is how Ismat Chughtai, Urdu’s most courageous and controversial writer asserted the validity of her literary engagement in her characteristic, forthright manner.
My first encounter with Ismat Chughtai a.k.a Ismat Aaapa was at Jaipur Literary Festival 2013. Don’t take me wrong, I was not fortunate enough to meet her but I was lucky to attend one session moderated by the famous lyricist Javed Akhtar. It was a wonderful experience to know about such a lady who was great and became greater over time.
Known as much of her unconventional writings as for her mercurial personality, Chughtai became a legend in her lifetime. Born at a time when Indian society was largely orthodox and tradition-bound , and women spent their whole life behind purdah, Chughtai challenged the morals and values of her time and fiercely advocated self hood and self-definition for women.
Lifting the Veil brings together her fiction and non-fiction writing consisting of twenty-one pieces which are some of her best works.
The themes and characters of these stories are taken from the spheres which she knew intimately- the middle class Muslims families of Aligarh, Agra and Bareilly with their elaborate network of relatives, hangers –on and servants. These families were invariably large and hardly had any space for privacy.
All the stories are not mere portrayal of characters and events; she used her mimetic strategy to recreate the entire ethos of people at a particular moment in history. The characters have been treated not as autonomous individuals but as products of certain social environment which shaped their psyche. Removed from this social milieu they lose much of their appeal. They are culturally rooted and the local flavor adds significantly to their charm. Thus, when you read these stories, you enter a culture –the culture of Muslims of UP and all ingredients that make up its texture; the beliefs and superstitions , religious observances, rites and rituals.
Her best known story ‘The Quilt’ (‘Lihaaf’),jolted the Urdu reading public out of their complacency by daringly depicting female sexuality in a manner not attempted before in modern Indian literature. This treatment of homosexuality and lesbianism lends itself fruitful feminist readings even as it provoked indignant reactions among the conservative public.
Two pen sketches and two autobiographical fragments have also been included in this collection which records the life of the writer, her observation, her own life, family, friends and social milieu. Written in essentially the same style, they all demonstrate her strengths as a creative writer.
This selection seeks to represent different facets of the writer’s literary engagement, without confining itself merely to her feminist concerns.
I recommend this book to all those readers who have a literary bent of mind and who nurtures a curiosity to explore an unabashed facet of life.
My first encounter with Ismat Chughtai a.k.a Ismat Aaapa was at Jaipur Literary Festival 2013. Don’t take me wrong, I was not fortunate enough to meet her but I was lucky to attend one session moderated by the famous lyricist Javed Akhtar. It was a wonderful experience to know about such a lady who was great and became greater over time.
Known as much of her unconventional writings as for her mercurial personality, Chughtai became a legend in her lifetime. Born at a time when Indian society was largely orthodox and tradition-bound , and women spent their whole life behind purdah, Chughtai challenged the morals and values of her time and fiercely advocated self hood and self-definition for women.
Lifting the Veil brings together her fiction and non-fiction writing consisting of twenty-one pieces which are some of her best works.
The themes and characters of these stories are taken from the spheres which she knew intimately- the middle class Muslims families of Aligarh, Agra and Bareilly with their elaborate network of relatives, hangers –on and servants. These families were invariably large and hardly had any space for privacy.
All the stories are not mere portrayal of characters and events; she used her mimetic strategy to recreate the entire ethos of people at a particular moment in history. The characters have been treated not as autonomous individuals but as products of certain social environment which shaped their psyche. Removed from this social milieu they lose much of their appeal. They are culturally rooted and the local flavor adds significantly to their charm. Thus, when you read these stories, you enter a culture –the culture of Muslims of UP and all ingredients that make up its texture; the beliefs and superstitions , religious observances, rites and rituals.
Her best known story ‘The Quilt’ (‘Lihaaf’),jolted the Urdu reading public out of their complacency by daringly depicting female sexuality in a manner not attempted before in modern Indian literature. This treatment of homosexuality and lesbianism lends itself fruitful feminist readings even as it provoked indignant reactions among the conservative public.
Two pen sketches and two autobiographical fragments have also been included in this collection which records the life of the writer, her observation, her own life, family, friends and social milieu. Written in essentially the same style, they all demonstrate her strengths as a creative writer.
This selection seeks to represent different facets of the writer’s literary engagement, without confining itself merely to her feminist concerns.
I recommend this book to all those readers who have a literary bent of mind and who nurtures a curiosity to explore an unabashed facet of life.
Publisher : Penguin
Nice review!
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