‘In my stories, I’ve put down everything with objectivity. Now, if some people find them obscene, let them go to hell. It’s my belief that experiences can never be obscene, if they are based on authentic realities of life’
-Ismat Chughtai
Well known Urdu poet and singer Mumtaz Peerbhoy and the versatile storyteller Chetan Shetty got together at Gyaan Adab on Wednesday, August 13, 2014 for an Urdu and English reading/ narration of Ismat Chughtai’s famous story ‘Gharwali’, considered humourous, enjoyable and daring.
A heady satire on the institution of marriage, as well as on the social mores of 1940s ‘Gharwali’ by the eminent, bold Urdu fiction writer Ismat Chughtai is one of her much admired stories.
The evening started with Chetan Shetty narrating the English translation of the story, after which Mumtaz Peerbhoy read the story in its original Urdu form.
The story reflects a romantic relationship between a young girl of an unknown background and a healthy sexual appetite with no qualms about it and a supposedly moral man, Mirza who after considerable amount of self-constraint finally falls for Lajjo’s youthful charm.
After the Urdu reading, a round of question answers and a discussion on Ismat Chughtai’s bold yet prevalent topics followed.
[span12]
[span3]
The audience enjoyed the humorous story “Gharwali”
[/span3]
[span3]
[/span3]
[span3]
[/span3]
[/span12]
[span12]
[span3]
[/span3]
[/span12]
