Remembering Saadat Hassan Manto on His 65th Death Anniversary

Saadat Hassan Manto was a giant in the Urdu Language. He’s considered one of the pillars of Urdu short story writing along with Krishan Chandar, Munshi Prem Chand, and Mahinder Singh Bedi.

Saadat Hassan Manto, besides being extraordinarily gifted, was also known to be extremely quick in his craft. Anecdotes about him writing a short story sitting on the sidewalk or at his desk within a few minutes are still well known. One of those short stories was ‘Jhumkay’, which eventually was expanded to the script of the feature film ‘Badnaam’ in 1966.

Starring Alauddin, Ejaz, Neelo, and Diljeet Mirza, the film was a big hit. The dialogue, “Kahaan se aaye Hain yeh Jhumkay?!”, spoken by Alauddin is still remembered by film buffs today.

Manto died in 1955, 65 years ago to the day, depriving the world of his talent. Yet he left behind a treasure trove of literature. Though his words may be hard to digest, they ring true even today.