Today marks the 68th death anniversary of eminent literary giant Saadat Hasan Manto. Saadat Hasan Manto was born on 11th May 1912 in the Samrala district of Ludhiana. Father Ghulam Hasan Manto, a Kashmiri by caste and caste, lived with a large family in Kocha Vakilan, a locality in Amritsar, and was posted in a tehsil of Ludhiana.
O Hameed says that this is about thirty-eight years ago. A lanky boy was wearing an Odham macha in the Muslim High School, in Amritsar. When his classmates called him “Tommy” (a highly corrupted form of the word minto), sweet-sour mischief flashed through his boat-shaped eyes. A rosy complexion, a slightly protruding forehead, a bookish face, open cheeks, a sign of a flaky nose (though he never let a fly sit on his nose), he often wore a white pant-like pyjama shirt or a khadar kurta on his new bicycle. And Modi used to walk around the school with a camera. He would invent new news about the school and use a solvent to print upside-down letters written on thick turnips with a cutting pencil on pieces of paper and stick them on the notice board early in the morning. If he got a chance, he would put a part in the headmaster’s pocket. Due to his actions, there was often a commotion in the school.
Manto was a shy child in his home, unable to express himself due to the presence of his step-siblings and the strictness of his father. His mother supported him. He was not inclined towards education from the beginning. His early education took place at home.
In 1921, he was admitted to MAO Middle School in the fourth grade. His education career was not encouraging. He passed the matriculation examination in 1931 after failing three times. He then joined Hindu Sabha College in FA but dropped out and joined MO College in his second year.
Initially, he worked in magazines in Lahore, then became associated with All India Radio Delhi, where he wrote some very successful plays and features. Later, he moved to Bombay, where he edited several film magazines, during which he also wrote stories and dialogues for several films. After the establishment of Pakistan, he moved to Lahore and lived in that city for the last part of his life.
Manto has a wide variety of themes. On the one hand, they made gender a topic. On the other hand, India’s war of independence, politics, oppression, and riots by the British were molded into myths. He wrote more than two hundred stories in his literary life of twenty years. His realism, honesty, courage, and boldness have become proverbs in Urdu literature.
Manto’s last moments were described by his illustrious nephew Hamid Jalal, “Manto was being taken to the hospital in his last moments of life. Only once or twice before the ambulance arrived did Manto take his consent out of his mouth. He said to me. It’s getting very cold, so cold maybe it won’t even feel in the grave. Put two razees on me. After a while, a strange gleam appeared in his eyes. He said slowly, “I have three and a half rupees in my coat pocket.” Add some more money to them and ask for a little whiskey.” They continued to insist on alcohol. To satisfy them, they asked for a pint. They looked at the bottle with a strangely relaxed look and said, ‘Two pegs for me. Bana Do’ Manto Mama had no doubts about himself even then.”
Saadat Hasan Manto died on January 18, 1955, due to liver disease. He is buried in the cemetery of Miani Sahib in Lahore. God bless him.
