The Collectors' Chughtai : Her Choicest Stories

by Ismat Chughtai, Tahira Naqvi (Translator)

Ismat Chughtai is considered one of the pillars of modern Urdu fiction. This is a new reprint of her choicest stories. Stories that reflect Chughtai's progressive feminist outlook which was far ahead of her times

Unknown Binding

Published January 1, 2021

About the author

Ismat Chughtai (Urdu: عصمت چغتائی) (August 1915 – 24 October 1991) was an eminent Urdu writer, known for her indomitable spirit and a fierce feminist ideology. She was considered the grand dame of Urdu fiction, Along with Rashid Jahan, Wajeda Tabassum and Qurratulain Hyder, Ismat’s work stands for the birth of a revolutionary feminist politics and aesthetics in twentieth century Urdu literature. She explored feminine sexuality, middle-class gentility, and other evolving conflicts in the modern Muslim world. Her outspoken and controversial style of writing made her the passionate voice for the unheard, and she has become an inspiration for the younger generation of writers, readers and intellectuals.

Reviews

[Vishy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read one or two short stories by Ismat Chughtai before. I've wanted to read a proper collection of her short stories and so decided to read this book.

There are 29 short stories in the book. 'The Quilt' ('Lihaaf'), her most famous story is there. When it first came out, it created a lot of controversy. It gave Ismat Chughtai her reputation as a bold, outspoken writer, who pushed the boundaries. This story resulted in a case being filed against her and calls for banning the story. Fortunately for us, the court sided with Ismat, and we now can read this story and find out what the fuss was all about.

I liked many of the stories in the book. There were a few stories which were underwhelming, but I liked the majority of the stories, and my favourite stories were all exceptional. One of my favourite stories was 'Kallu' in which a 7-year old boy who is working in the home of a rich family is thrown out of the house. Many years later he comes back as a grown-up man and the reunion is very interesting. Another favourite story was 'Bichu Phupi' in which a sister and a brother have a big fallout and the sister goes to war against her brother, but the love these two siblings have towards each other comes out in unusual ways. Another of my favourite stories was 'The Wife' ('Ghar Waali'). Laajo, one of the main characters in the story, is a free spirit who refuses to bow to anyone and she is one of my favourite characters in the book. Another of my favourite stories was 'Sacred Duty' ('Muqaddas Farz') in which a young woman and a young man fall in love, but they are from different religions and their parents are against it. How this young couple trick their parents and how their parents trick them back and who wins this game forms the rest of the story. In 'Professions' ('Pesha'), our narrator is a teacher. Her neighbour appears to be a modern day courtesan. The courtesan one day walks into the teacher's house and asks for her help. What happens after that is the rest of the story. There is a twist in the end which is quite fascinating. There are other beautiful stories in the book, but I'll stop here.

There was an interesting epilogue to this reading experience. I discovered that I have another collection of stories by Ismat Chughtai. It had 15 stories in it. Nearly all of them were already there in this collection that I'd read. But there were also two new stories in it. I always love it when I discover surprises like this. Those two stories were translated by a different translator, Syeda S. Hameed. I liked them both, but one of them, 'Poison' ('Zehr') was very beautiful. It had a fascinating twist at the end.

The edition of the book I read was published by Women Unlimited. It had a beautiful cover, thick soft paper, and a big font. It was an absolute pleasure to read.

I loved reading Ismat Chughtai's short stories. They brought back to life a different era. Ismat's outspoken style and her humour comes through in many of the stories. I don't know how many feathers she ruffled during her time, and how much she defied and tested the censors during her time, but I'm glad she wrote these stories. She has written a few novels too. Hoping to read them sometime.

Have you read Ismat Chughtai's short stories? What do you think about them? Which short stories of hers are your favourites?

[Raylene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Any short story collection has its good, bad and so so stories. This mostly had good and no so terrible ones. Ismat Chugtai is a gifted writer of her times bringing to life its trappings and highlights – truly enjoyed this read. Her range is astonishing, sparing no one.

[Priya sankar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ismat Chughtai’s stories have an original voice I haven’t heard before. The stories have a woman’s perspective from the inside of Muslim families.

The story “the rock” has so many laugh out loud moments in how she describes the situations and people - they are so real. The translation is very good and has retained the context and humour from the Urdu original in English.

[Noise · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

Chughtai's writing style is a bit repetitive which is the reason I can't rate this collection higher. Otherwise, beautiful prose and translation.