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Memories of Madness: Stories in 1947
Independence for India, in 1947, came with a price: division on the basis of religion. In the communal riots that followed, hundreds of thousands were killed and millions rendered homeless. And the tragic legacy of Partition haunts the subcontinent even today. Memories of Madness brings together works by three leading writers who witnessed the insanity of those months.
Train to Pakistan, Khushwant Singh’s debut novel, tells the story of a village in Punjab, Mano Majra where Muslims and Sikhs have co-existed peacefully, till one night in 1947 when a ghost train arrives from across the new border, bearing corpses of butchered refugees. As mistrust grows into hate and the people of Mano Majra lose their humanity, it is left to an outcast, a Sikh dacoit in love with a Muslim girl, to avert another carnage.
Bhisham Sahni’s Tamas is a harrowing portrait of a small frontier town in the grip of communal frenzy. Based on the author’s own experience of riots in Rawalpindi, this celebrated novel describes the murder and mayhem triggered off by the discovery of a pig’s carcass outside a mosque.
The matchless stories of Saadat Hasan Manto, the greatest short story writer in the Urdu language, round off this collection. In addition to his most famous story, Toba Tek Singh, the selection includes ten other sketches and stories in which Manto turns his unflinching gaze on history's criminals, victims and unlikely heroes.
As moving as they are disturbing, the stories in this volume are of immense relevance in these times, for they constitute a chilling reminder of the consequences of communal politics.
Train to Pakistan, Khushwant Singh’s debut novel, tells the story of a village in Punjab, Mano Majra where Muslims and Sikhs have co-existed peacefully, till one night in 1947 when a ghost train arrives from across the new border, bearing corpses of butchered refugees. As mistrust grows into hate and the people of Mano Majra lose their humanity, it is left to an outcast, a Sikh dacoit in love with a Muslim girl, to avert another carnage.
Bhisham Sahni’s Tamas is a harrowing portrait of a small frontier town in the grip of communal frenzy. Based on the author’s own experience of riots in Rawalpindi, this celebrated novel describes the murder and mayhem triggered off by the discovery of a pig’s carcass outside a mosque.
The matchless stories of Saadat Hasan Manto, the greatest short story writer in the Urdu language, round off this collection. In addition to his most famous story, Toba Tek Singh, the selection includes ten other sketches and stories in which Manto turns his unflinching gaze on history's criminals, victims and unlikely heroes.
As moving as they are disturbing, the stories in this volume are of immense relevance in these times, for they constitute a chilling reminder of the consequences of communal politics.
536 pages, Paperback
First published November 25, 2003
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About the author
Khushwant Singh
298 books1,426 followersKhushwant Singh, (Punjabi: ਖ਼ੁਸ਼ਵੰਤ ਸਿੰਘ, Hindi: खुशवंत सिंह) born on 2 February 1915 in Hadali, Undivided India, (now a part of Pakistan), was a prominent Indian novelist and journalist. Singh's weekly column, "With Malice towards One and All", carried by several Indian newspapers, was among the most widely-read columns in the country.
An important post-colonial novelist writing in English, Singh is best known for his trenchant secularism, his humor, and an abiding love of poetry. His comparisons of social and behavioral characteristics of Westerners and Indians are laced with acid wit.
An important post-colonial novelist writing in English, Singh is best known for his trenchant secularism, his humor, and an abiding love of poetry. His comparisons of social and behavioral characteristics of Westerners and Indians are laced with acid wit.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 11, 2015
The story "Mishtake" by "Manto" is the shortest story I have read.
28 words in Urdu translated into two sentences in English by Khalid Hasan. And in those 28 words / 2 sentences lie the entire madness that followed the 'partition'.
Churi
paet chak karti hui
naaf ke neeche tak chali gai izarband kat gaya.
Churi maarnevale ke
munh se
dafatan
kalma-i-taassuf nikla
“Chi, Chi, Chi…mishtake ho gaya.”
That translates into:
Ripping the belly cleanly, the knife moved in a straight line down the midriff, in the process slashing the cord, which held the man’s pyjamas in place.
The man with the knife took one look and exclaimed regretfully, ‘Oh no! … Mishtake!’
28 words in Urdu translated into two sentences in English by Khalid Hasan. And in those 28 words / 2 sentences lie the entire madness that followed the 'partition'.
Churi
paet chak karti hui
naaf ke neeche tak chali gai izarband kat gaya.
Churi maarnevale ke
munh se
dafatan
kalma-i-taassuf nikla
“Chi, Chi, Chi…mishtake ho gaya.”
That translates into:
Ripping the belly cleanly, the knife moved in a straight line down the midriff, in the process slashing the cord, which held the man’s pyjamas in place.
The man with the knife took one look and exclaimed regretfully, ‘Oh no! … Mishtake!’
February 10, 2016
This book is a compilation of Khushwant Singh's, "Train to Pakistan", Bhisham Sahni's, "Tamas" and short stories by Saadat Hasan Manto. All stories are related to the riots during the Partition of India I'm 1947.
Modern writers rarely write about the riots in India, which are happening with sickening regularity, after the Partition of India and Pakistan. .The modern generation has to read such stories to understand the politics of rioting and the gruesome bloodshed which happens. Deaths of innocents cannot be justified like a village elder in Train to Pakistan says, "Only people who have committed crimes should be punished"
The book has beautifully written stories that, even though are spine chilling, tell us about the time when Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs who coexisted peacefully for generations, were torn apart due to the decisions of some politicians and leaders. This gruesome chapter in Indian history has to be read by all Indians.
Modern writers rarely write about the riots in India, which are happening with sickening regularity, after the Partition of India and Pakistan. .The modern generation has to read such stories to understand the politics of rioting and the gruesome bloodshed which happens. Deaths of innocents cannot be justified like a village elder in Train to Pakistan says, "Only people who have committed crimes should be punished"
The book has beautifully written stories that, even though are spine chilling, tell us about the time when Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs who coexisted peacefully for generations, were torn apart due to the decisions of some politicians and leaders. This gruesome chapter in Indian history has to be read by all Indians.
October 8, 2014
Absolutely spine-chilling.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews