Dear
Sadat Hasan Manto
India
Monday,
11th May 2020
Hall
Road,
Lahore,
Pakistan
Dear Sadat Hasan Manto.
We are sure that you are still inspiring
your mates in heaven with your strong writing and fearless personality. We are
sure that you still tell your fellow mates up there that you are just a story
writer, chasing the truth. We are sure that your sensibility is still hurt and
you still pick up your pen to jot your heart down.
Ever since you left, you have become the
name in every household. Our generation was fortunate to not have lived during
the partition era, but we got to know all about it through your ever-inspiring
writing. You have not just inspired people in India and Pakistan, but have also
reached out to people all over the globe, because your work is so highly
translated and read across the world, that we feel, we have colonized the west
this time.
How were you able to do it, Manto? We mean,
how could you be so fearless that you never bothered about your own life? How could
you be so true to yourself in an era that was even more regressive? Because
today, it seems, that truth is lost.
During those days, you were renowned among
the writers community in India and Pakistan. And today, the whole world is
inspired by your vicinity of work as an author, journalist, playwright and
screenwriter. Ab Aur Kehne Ki Zaroorat Nahi Hai, Thanda Ghosht, Sarak Ke Kinary,
Toba Tek Singh, Khol Do, Boo, Kaali Shalwar, Bombay Stories, Baghair Unwan Ke,
and so many other works of yours still surprise us. The awards you got for your
work fall short to fairly justify your talent and your skill as a writer. We
always feel that you deserved much more. We all know you for your candid style
of writing, especially while addressing the taboos and evils of the society.
It is sad that you and your family had to
experience the moment when India was cleaved into two parts, and overnight you
went displaced. But you never left us. Your aura seems to have been present on
every street of this country.
You felt the pain of the partition and put
it down on paper, and thanks to you, Manto. We felt every pain you experienced.
When you wanted us to smile, we smiled. When you wanted us to feel angry, we
did. When you wanted us to cry, we cried. Your Stories about those grey areas
of the society reached us. Your writings that showed us the ugly as well as the
beautiful arenas of the society held us for long. Your empathy towards the
innocent sufferers touched us. You were successful in giving a voice to the
voiceless, and we are sure that you would have been happy to see, that today,
there is something called Social Media, that helps us all speak our minds out.
Though FIRs have been a result of most of the outspoken words, but that must
not have been different for you in your times as well.
On a lighter note if you don’t mind, just
for your information, today if you would have been around, still writing what
you wrote in those times, we are sure that you wouldn’t have been charged for
obscenity at all, because firstly, the society seems to have progressed ‘a
lot’. And secondly, there are other things more obscene.
Though you are not with us, but we are
sure that you are looking at the madness from up there and shouting “Upar Di
Gur Gur Di Annex Di Bedhiyana Di Moong Di Daal of Di Pakistan And Hindustan of
Di Durr Phitey Mun.”, because the insane love for the nation over everything
else, even reason, just doesn’t seem to end yet.
Manto, though you are no longer with us,
but we still feel that you are around here somewhere, watching over us, and
even telling us in some way to fight for what is right.
A very Happy Birthday to you, Manto. You
are ever alive in our hearts and never seem to leave us. Your spirit is around
us all the time that keeps reminding us that truth is supreme over anything. On
your 108th Birth Anniversary, we promise to not get distressed
over the evils of the society, but rather have the courage to fight it. We
promise not to lose heart and always chase truth, no matter what. We all have a
Manto in all of us somewhere, and we promise to always keep the spark of our
inner Manto ignited.
Thank you for everything, Dear Manto. Hope
we meet soon. If not physically, but personally, through your wonderful
writings, and feel amazed every time we read them.
Regards
From
all those who just feel inspired.
- Vijayasaree V
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