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November 21, 2004
Realism uncensored
Literary criticism, research into abstruse aspects of human psychology and writing fiction combine but rarely. Dr Saleem Akhtar’s multiform works embody that singular combination. Primarily known for his research work in human psychology and sexology, he is reported to have authored 60 books on various subjects. This fact can perhaps explain why he is not so well-known as a short story writer.
His voluminous book under review, Nargis aur Cactus, consisting of 107 short stories and a novelette, came as a discovery of a realm hitherto unexplored. It is a commonly held opinion that realism in writing of short stories is in throes of terminal illness since the death of Manto and Ismat. Whatever little hope was there of its survival died with Ashfaque Ahmad. Reading Dr Akhtar’s short stories can prove an antidote to this despondency.
According to his own account, writing fiction demands far greater creativity than producing research work. A short story writer has to adorn and embellish what he has observed or conjured up, keeping in view the challenges of form, style and characterization. Akhtar’s hard work and premeditation are manifest in the short stories under review.
His story lines and characters are vastly variegated. One finds stories from Greek and Hindu mythologies, characters from Arabian Nights and personage from today’s world. One short story deals with the mythical character, Echo, who falls in love with Narcissus (from where the title of the book is derived) and is repulsed. She pines away until she is nothing more than a lonely disembodied voice, and Narcissus turns into a flower, cold and emotionless, a symbol of self-love.
Some of the stories are simply exquisite and can be compared with the best in any language. “Chalees minute kee aurat” is an indepth study of the psychology of an unhappy woman who masquerades for what she is not for a short time that she is in the company of the narrator and then sinks into her gloomy world. In writing this great story, the author did not seek the help of raunchiness, which tends to permeate many other stories of his. “Aadhi raat ki mukhlooq” is the story of a prostitute and the locale is the crummy quarters of New York city. It is a tender and compassionate study of two characters whom adversity has thrown together. On completing the story one feels a lump in the throat. Its subject matter notwithstanding, there is no sleaze.
The other short stories such as “Kaath kee auratain”, “Karway badam” and “Alamati murad” are also outstanding. On the other hand, deletion of some other stories like “Naya tamasha”, “Syah hashia” and “Akbari tudbeer” could improve the overall quality of the collection.
The plot of the novelette, “Zubt kee deewar,” however, appears too contrived and unrealistic though the author adroitly depicts the setting and the atmosphere.
Almost all his stories manifest realism. He resists an impressionist’s tendency towards inaction and formlessness. Cool, sardonic and worldly, he creates neatly constructed plots whose psychological and moral ironies are sharply defined.
Akhtar acknowledges Saadat Hasan Manto as a great writer. Manto’s influence is writ large in most of his stories. Many of his stories have resembling plots to those of Manto’s. Some of the expressions have been lifted almost verbatim. Surprise endings to his stories, unexpected twists to the plot, informality of expression,”Kitchen-Sink” dramas remind one of O. Henry and Manto. But this is not to say that Akhtar is in the same league as that of Manto. He cannot reach the spontaneity, free-spirited expression and unconstrained flow of ideas of Manto.
Akhtar’s world is inhabited by true to life characters with their day-to-day problems, their complexes and their responses. A large number of his stories deal with the interaction between man and woman, their emotional and psychological problems. As an ardent reader of Freud and Jung, he ponders over the sexual problems of his characters, dwells deep into their reasons and savours their description. He is a sensualist par excellence who gloats in describing sexual encounters. Topographical depiction of the female body, especially the mammilla, is an obsession with him, which at times touches the precinct of lewdness.
The language Akhtar uses is easy to understand, never confounding, and has a natural flow. Unfortunately like most of our writings, our conversation, even our advertisements, the language used in the stories is a mix of Urdu, English, and Punjabi. The Punjabi idioms and words keep surfacing even where their Urdu equivalents are not uncommon.
As a study in contrast, it is interesting to note that Manto too had a Punjabi background (he expressed his love for the language on many an occasion) but the Urdu he wrote never carried Punjabi idioms. On rare occasions, in the language our author uses a touch of Billingsgate crops up.
Sex is manifested in Akhtar’s stories in all shades, even explicitly. Notably his penchant for the libido has not attracted the criticism and, more significantly, prosecution, which was the fate of writers like Manto and Ismat. Is this the sign of a more tolerant time or that people have stopped reading?
Nargis aur Cactus
By Dr Saleem Akhtar
Sang-e-Meel Publications,
25 Shahrah-i-Pakistan, Lahore
Tel: 042-7220100
Email:
smp@sang-e-meel.com
ISBN 969 352593 5
784pp. Rs900
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