Saadat Hasan Manto

Saadat Hasan Manto was a Urdu short story writer.

He was arguably one of the best short story tellers of the 20th century, and one of the most controversial as well. He is often compared with D. H. Lawrence, and like Lawrence he also wrote about the topics considered social taboos in Indo-Pakistani Society. His topics range from the socio-economic injustice prevailing in pre and post colonial subcontinent, to the more controversial topics of love, sex, incest, prostitution and the typical hypocrisy of a traditional subcontinental male. In dealing with these topics, he doesn't take any pains to conceal the true state of the affair-although his short stories are often intricately structured, with vivid satire and a good sense of humour. In his own words, "If you find my stories dirty, the society you are living in is dirty. With my stories,I only expose the truth"

He was often tried for obscenity in Pakistani Courts, but never convicted. In a society where being liberal is also considered a sin, he was a brave torch bearer of modernity.

Some of his works have been translated in other languages. The following two stories, one of his finest, are available free online (English Translation):