Saadat Hasan Manto, Critical Writer Who Makes Us Question Even Today

Do all artists need the high of alcohol, drugs and debauchery to be able to be at their creative best? One can’t pinpoint the exact reasons as to why artists are considered to be more prone to addiction than accountants, doctors or engineers. Or maybe this is the stereotypical image of artists who are portrayed as a rebel with a cause. They are seen as people who have a natural affinity towards stupor-induced greatness, which is found in their art. 

Saadat Hasan Manto's Legacy

Throughout history, it is common knowledge that artists struggle to close the gap between them and the beady accountants, who won’t pay them their due. They will negotiate like a vegetable vendor leaving artists hurt in their pride to even strike a bargain for a part of their soul that they lay bare in their art. Among them, one name that can’t be overlooked is Saadat Hasan Manto. He was among the progressive writers who were known to write stories that were inappropriate from the lens of morality and as a Muslim man, it was considered even more blasphemous his writings. However, undeterred Manto continued to break the rules of his religion, rebelling against the system, till he was banned from writing forever. 

Manto’s best short stories are still held in very high esteem by writers and critics alike. He is best known for his stories about the partition of India, which he opposed, immediately following independence in 1947.  Manto reluctantly moved by ship to Pakistan like many Muslims who left India. But his heart stayed back in India as he missed his home and his friends. 

Unfortunately, like other eminent writers of his ilk, because he reflected on his experiences, Manto had to undergo several criminal trials for allegedly being accused of obscene writings. 

His writings have left posterity with much more than the irate chronicles of someone overshadowed by an exhausting personal ordeal. He went through severe anxiety, depression and his alcoholism addiction which left him in acute distress and penury, yet his writings remain dripping with gold. 

Saadat Hassan Manto was born on May 11, 1912, and even today some of his writings resonate strongly among those who enjoy literature. Manto’s 'Ten Rupees', which was originally written in Urdu and later translated into English, introduces the reader to the dark world of child prostitution. The short story narrates the life and circumstances of a 15-year-old girl, Sarita, who is made to work as a part-time prostitute by her mother. 

Only Manto could see and feel the pain and grief of the uncelebrated people that he met and put their lives into stories that touch a deep chord even today. With his untimely death from liver cirrhosis, one would say that he represented the iconic, stereotypical characteristics of that era of artists who were unsuccessful in monetary yet the darkness of poverty or addictions could never swallow the light that shone bright from their soul forever. 

Mohua Chinappa is a poet, and author and runs two podcasts, The Literature Lounge and The Mohua Show. She is also a member of a UK-based award-winning think tank called Bridge India.

Views expressed are the author's own.