This refers to Nilanjana S Roy’s column “A charpai of her own” (Speaking Volumes, April 10). The charges of uriyan-nigari (nudism) and phoohashi (vulgarity) against Saadat Hasan Manto and Ismat Chughtai were not so much about the sexual perversity of their writings as about the challenge they posed to the norms that were followed by Indian society in general and Muslims in particular.
Chughtai’s playful yet bold challenge to social conventions by insisting on educating herself, not wearing a dupatta on social occasions and going to her Hindu friend’s home on Janmashtami are just some examples of the rebellious streak in her personality that came to the fore in her writings. As she repeatedly asserts in her memoirs, Kagazi hai Pairhan, her Turkic ancestry was as close to her heart as the varied traditions of India.
The title of her memoirs has been taken from one of Ghalib’s most soulful couplet: “Naqsh fariyadi hai kiski, shokhi-e-tehreer ka; Kagazi hai pairhan, har paikar-e-tasveer ka” Who is complaining of lord’s playful (mischievous) writings (commands);
Everything in this world is as transient as an idol/form dressed in a papery-attire.
She may, thus, be humbly alluding to the evanescence of her life but actually Chughtai left an indelible mark on the Urdu and Indian literary scene.
Ajay Tyagi Mumbai
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