What do you think?
Day and Dastan: Two Novellas
Intizar Husain is the finest writer of Urdu prose and the most brilliant story-teller of the post-partition generation. The two novellas, Day and Dastan (Din Aur Dastan), his favourite texts, show his versatility and fictional inventiveness. Day, a realistic story, is a meditation on the cruellest of events to have scarred our times – migrations. When people are forced to move to new homes or
new geographies, they only recall a mix of uncanny facts, streets lost in sad nostalgias, fantasies of lovers, parables of simple things, or an unending romance about a possible life and a world. When physical geographies are redrawn, moral landscapes become so bewildering as to leave one emotionally paralysed. As in Intizar Husain’s other works, India’s partition haunts the tale like an
inexplicable shadow.
In contrast, Dastan is a traditional tale of wonder. Its language is lyrical and exaggerated; its narrative, obsessed with action, weaves dreams and adventure, heroism and mercy, beauty and love, magic
and grace. It is located in another time of turmoil and uncertainty when mysterious forces cause havoc in nature, and societies rise up suddenly to avenge old wrongs. The1857 war of independence is prophesied by a mysterious faqir; rivers suddenly break their banks; an old haveli is left desolate; a
princess weeps beside a fountain; a parrot shows a soldier the road to take; and hope of political change is fatally lost. Intizar Husain is neither a social critic nor a preacher; he is a story-teller – a supreme one.
new geographies, they only recall a mix of uncanny facts, streets lost in sad nostalgias, fantasies of lovers, parables of simple things, or an unending romance about a possible life and a world. When physical geographies are redrawn, moral landscapes become so bewildering as to leave one emotionally paralysed. As in Intizar Husain’s other works, India’s partition haunts the tale like an
inexplicable shadow.
In contrast, Dastan is a traditional tale of wonder. Its language is lyrical and exaggerated; its narrative, obsessed with action, weaves dreams and adventure, heroism and mercy, beauty and love, magic
and grace. It is located in another time of turmoil and uncertainty when mysterious forces cause havoc in nature, and societies rise up suddenly to avenge old wrongs. The1857 war of independence is prophesied by a mysterious faqir; rivers suddenly break their banks; an old haveli is left desolate; a
princess weeps beside a fountain; a parrot shows a soldier the road to take; and hope of political change is fatally lost. Intizar Husain is neither a social critic nor a preacher; he is a story-teller – a supreme one.
- GenresPakistan
192 pages, Hardcover
First published January 25, 2018
About the author
Intizar Husain
80 books115 followersIntizar Husain (1925–2016) was a journalist, short-story writer, and novelist, widely considered one of the most significant fiction writers in Urdu. Born in Dibai, Bulandshahr, in British-administered India, he migrated to Pakistan in 1947 and lived in Lahore. Besides Basti, he was the author of two other novels, Naya Gar (The New House), which paints a picture of Pakistan during the ten-year dictatorship of the Islamic fundamentalist General Zia-ul-Haq, and Agay Sumandar Hai (Beyond Is the Sea), which juxtaposes the spiraling urban violence of contemporary Karachi with a vision of the lost Islamic realm of al-Andalus. Collections of Husain’s celebrated short stories have appeared in English under the titles Leaves, The Seventh Door, A Chronicle of the Peacocks, and An Unwritten Epic.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
Read
June 11, 2018Despite his reputation as a Partition narrator, Husain’s interest seems to lie not so much in bloody events. He examines the uneven, immeasurable tragedies that unfold as a result of separation, from the land, the landscape, and beloved people. These little tragedies may unfold from an inability to take firm, clear-sighted decisions, or from a restrictive culture or a household that leaves you nowhere to hide.
Day involves an uprooting, although violence is not yet on the horizon. Dastan, on the other hand, is dotted with uprootings. There are mythical trees and beasts, princesses, and battles, but above all, there is exile.
Reviewed here: https://scroll.in/article/881020/two-...
Day involves an uprooting, although violence is not yet on the horizon. Dastan, on the other hand, is dotted with uprootings. There are mythical trees and beasts, princesses, and battles, but above all, there is exile.
Reviewed here: https://scroll.in/article/881020/two-...
June 9, 2024
After reading a couple of short story collections by Intizar Husain, I decided to read this book 'Din Aur Dastan' by him, which has two novellas, 'Din' and 'Dastan'.
In the first story 'Din', Zamir comes with his parents to their ancestral haveli in the village. His grandfather has just passed. His aunts are living there. Zamir's best friend and childhood sweetheart Tahsina is also there. There still seems to be sparks between them. What happens during the course of the summer there, when Zamir looks back to his childhood, his aunts reminisce about the past, and how the present and the future unfold is told in the rest of the story. In the middle of this poignant, haunting story, there is also a beautiful love story. It is delicate, gentle, and much is left unsaid. What happens in this love story and how it ends, I'll leave it for you to find out. Tahsina was one of my favourite characters in the story.
In the second story 'Dastan', a few friends are sitting and having a chat late in the night. One of them asks another, an elder, to tell them a story, or 'dastan'. So this person starts telling them a story, which stretches into a couple of nights. There are young heroes, a war, a burning tower of fire in the middle of the desert, a scary black river, beautiful princesses, a majestic horse without a rider, and many other wonderful things in the story. There are stories within stories within stories. It feels like an Amir Hamza story or an Arabian Nights story told by Sheherzad. Of course, it is told in Intizar Husain's own unique style. The ending of the story is very interesting, and I don't think it is like a classic dastan.
I loved both the stories in the book. 'Din' feels like a poignant, nostalgic story but it has a lot of depth to it. The unsaid things in it makes us think a lot. 'Dastan' is not a typical fantasy. There is more to it than meets the eye.
There is an insightful introduction at the beginning of the book by Nishat Zaidi. It is best read after reading the book. It veers towards the academic and it has sentences like 'Husain's stories debunk the anthropomorphism of the Habermasian communicative rationality', so please be forewarned.
The edition of the book I read has been published by Niyogi books. It is a beautiful edition with thick paper and it is an absolute pleasure to hold and to read.
Sharing some of my favourite parts from the book.
"As the dust storm began to blow with ferocity, the entire area was suddenly steeped in a dusty, yellow light. Storms do not follow a schedule. Sometimes the sky turns a pale yellow before noon, sometimes late in the afternoon, and sometimes in the evening. These are days when there is a dust storm every afternoon. Every day, however, a large number of kites fly in lazy, drowsy, slightly drunken circles under the sun surrounded by a halo of dust. Then, the cycle of stifling days suddenly snaps at night when everyone is asleep; and a passing storm shatters the trance of people sleeping in courtyards, rooftops, and terraces. Even the colour of the stormy sky is never the same – though usually a dusty yellow, there are mornings when it turns a deep grey, and by noon the landscape is drowned in such deep darkness that lanterns have to be lit in shops and houses.
It didn't matter whether the storms came in the afternoon, evening, or the middle of the night. The devastation they caused was always visible the next morning when vegetable-sellers came with baskets and baskets loaded with raw mangoes that had fallen in the storm and sold them at dirt-cheap prices. These storms not only knocked down raw mangoes, but also snapped branches and uprooted trees loaded with them. Raw mangoes were then heaped on cots in the haveli, and the knives in Tai Amma's and Badi Apa's hands moved rapidly to chop them into small chunks."
"Suddenly, a shadow passed over the courtyard burnt by the setting sun. It was as if the sunlight had acquired feet and had quickly climbed up the front wall, reached the terrace, slid past the attic on the top floor, and disappeared."
Have you read 'Din Aur Dastan'? What to you think about it?
In the first story 'Din', Zamir comes with his parents to their ancestral haveli in the village. His grandfather has just passed. His aunts are living there. Zamir's best friend and childhood sweetheart Tahsina is also there. There still seems to be sparks between them. What happens during the course of the summer there, when Zamir looks back to his childhood, his aunts reminisce about the past, and how the present and the future unfold is told in the rest of the story. In the middle of this poignant, haunting story, there is also a beautiful love story. It is delicate, gentle, and much is left unsaid. What happens in this love story and how it ends, I'll leave it for you to find out. Tahsina was one of my favourite characters in the story.
In the second story 'Dastan', a few friends are sitting and having a chat late in the night. One of them asks another, an elder, to tell them a story, or 'dastan'. So this person starts telling them a story, which stretches into a couple of nights. There are young heroes, a war, a burning tower of fire in the middle of the desert, a scary black river, beautiful princesses, a majestic horse without a rider, and many other wonderful things in the story. There are stories within stories within stories. It feels like an Amir Hamza story or an Arabian Nights story told by Sheherzad. Of course, it is told in Intizar Husain's own unique style. The ending of the story is very interesting, and I don't think it is like a classic dastan.
I loved both the stories in the book. 'Din' feels like a poignant, nostalgic story but it has a lot of depth to it. The unsaid things in it makes us think a lot. 'Dastan' is not a typical fantasy. There is more to it than meets the eye.
There is an insightful introduction at the beginning of the book by Nishat Zaidi. It is best read after reading the book. It veers towards the academic and it has sentences like 'Husain's stories debunk the anthropomorphism of the Habermasian communicative rationality', so please be forewarned.
The edition of the book I read has been published by Niyogi books. It is a beautiful edition with thick paper and it is an absolute pleasure to hold and to read.
Sharing some of my favourite parts from the book.
"As the dust storm began to blow with ferocity, the entire area was suddenly steeped in a dusty, yellow light. Storms do not follow a schedule. Sometimes the sky turns a pale yellow before noon, sometimes late in the afternoon, and sometimes in the evening. These are days when there is a dust storm every afternoon. Every day, however, a large number of kites fly in lazy, drowsy, slightly drunken circles under the sun surrounded by a halo of dust. Then, the cycle of stifling days suddenly snaps at night when everyone is asleep; and a passing storm shatters the trance of people sleeping in courtyards, rooftops, and terraces. Even the colour of the stormy sky is never the same – though usually a dusty yellow, there are mornings when it turns a deep grey, and by noon the landscape is drowned in such deep darkness that lanterns have to be lit in shops and houses.
It didn't matter whether the storms came in the afternoon, evening, or the middle of the night. The devastation they caused was always visible the next morning when vegetable-sellers came with baskets and baskets loaded with raw mangoes that had fallen in the storm and sold them at dirt-cheap prices. These storms not only knocked down raw mangoes, but also snapped branches and uprooted trees loaded with them. Raw mangoes were then heaped on cots in the haveli, and the knives in Tai Amma's and Badi Apa's hands moved rapidly to chop them into small chunks."
"Suddenly, a shadow passed over the courtyard burnt by the setting sun. It was as if the sunlight had acquired feet and had quickly climbed up the front wall, reached the terrace, slid past the attic on the top floor, and disappeared."
Have you read 'Din Aur Dastan'? What to you think about it?
October 2, 2022
2.5 stars rounded to 3.
It was no doubt an interesting book with two of Intizar Husain's famous novellas translated into English. But I was bored to death while reading them. I even skimmed the last few pages. It felt like going in circles. Or may be it was due to them being translated and may be Urdu versions are better or may be it just wasn't the right time of reading it (not coming back to it again though). I gave a sign of relief when it ended. Still feeling frustrated, though.
It was no doubt an interesting book with two of Intizar Husain's famous novellas translated into English. But I was bored to death while reading them. I even skimmed the last few pages. It felt like going in circles. Or may be it was due to them being translated and may be Urdu versions are better or may be it just wasn't the right time of reading it (not coming back to it again though). I gave a sign of relief when it ended. Still feeling frustrated, though.
October 4, 2018
Full review coming soon.
April 1, 2020
"The world is a workshop of wonders. Life is an enchanted story. No one knows the secrets of this workshop; no one can resolve the mystery of this enchantment. Death spares no one, and everyone who is born will die one day, but there are times when nature performs such miracles that life evades death."
.
.
There are times when you read something so beautifully conceived, fantastically woven, amazingly well written, and brilliantly translated that you find it difficult to review it, and this is one such book. 'Day And Dastan' by Intizar Husain is a collection of two translated Urdu novellas and the book wants me to pick up more Urdu literature.
.
.
'Day' is essentially a tragic love story set in the backdrop of a Zamindar family. If you have lived through a part of India that experiences dry, hot summers then the description in the book will make you nostalgic and you will relate. The story is told in a poetic manner and boy, did I love it! ❤️ 'Day' is a story about displacement, about unrequited love, and a lot more. It's tragic and that's why I did not finish the book in one sitting.
.
.
'Dastaan' on the other hand is not connected to 'Din' but framed by it. Dastaan can be best described as a story within a story where the many characters turn into storytellers and if you're someone who has grown up listening to stories from your grandparents then it will make you all nostalgic. The prose is lyrical and the stories are about fakirs, talking parrots, a mystical horse and even Sher Shah Suri and the British era. The storytellers are such that the lines between fiction and reality are blurred.
.
.
I recommend 'Day And Dastaan' to everyone who craves to read beautifully translated Urdu literature, those who wish to read something 'different' and definitely to those who wish to read something 'magical' and have a knack for fantasy.
.
.
There are times when you read something so beautifully conceived, fantastically woven, amazingly well written, and brilliantly translated that you find it difficult to review it, and this is one such book. 'Day And Dastan' by Intizar Husain is a collection of two translated Urdu novellas and the book wants me to pick up more Urdu literature.
.
.
'Day' is essentially a tragic love story set in the backdrop of a Zamindar family. If you have lived through a part of India that experiences dry, hot summers then the description in the book will make you nostalgic and you will relate. The story is told in a poetic manner and boy, did I love it! ❤️ 'Day' is a story about displacement, about unrequited love, and a lot more. It's tragic and that's why I did not finish the book in one sitting.
.
.
'Dastaan' on the other hand is not connected to 'Din' but framed by it. Dastaan can be best described as a story within a story where the many characters turn into storytellers and if you're someone who has grown up listening to stories from your grandparents then it will make you all nostalgic. The prose is lyrical and the stories are about fakirs, talking parrots, a mystical horse and even Sher Shah Suri and the British era. The storytellers are such that the lines between fiction and reality are blurred.
.
.
I recommend 'Day And Dastaan' to everyone who craves to read beautifully translated Urdu literature, those who wish to read something 'different' and definitely to those who wish to read something 'magical' and have a knack for fantasy.
November 7, 2022
Are these stories about Partition? Leaving childhood for adulthood? The transition from embodied life to alienated living, in the Marxist sense? How do the two novellas speak to one another? Are they two reflections on the past-one personal and located within a single lifespan, and one that spans centuries and goes outside of one's own memory and into collective legend and myth? What of the different use of language (idiomatic v. classically-informed)? And why the novella ("novelette" in Urdu) form, instead of the novel or the short story?
Reminded me a lot of the novella duo El Sur / Bene by Adelaida García-Morales.
Reminded me a lot of the novella duo El Sur / Bene by Adelaida García-Morales.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews