When a colleague mentioned Toba Tek Singh today, I was reminded of Manto’s magnum-opus…his celebrated short story entitled “Toba Tek Singh” recharged my reflections and inspired me to open this thread.
Arguably, Manto was the most gifted writer in Urdu. I’ve read two of his works… “Toba Tek Singh”, and “Naya Qanoon”… both dealing with the horrific madness of India’s partition.
His stories are filled with explicit socialist messages, and often his style of writing dwells upon twisting facts and topping them with a superb and matchless imprint of perversion. I find his works very politically relevant and insightful even today.
I was particularly taken aback by Toba Tek Singh… the short story describing the exchange of mental asylum inmates between the two countries at the time of partition. The plot revolves around Bishan Singh who is not sure how the partition will affect his home town of Toba Tek Singh. His queries to other inmates go unanswered because no one knows. While at the border between two countries, when Bishan learns from an officer that Toba Tek Singh is in Pakistan, he collapses on the border in no-man’s land crying “Toba Tek Singh is here!”
I’ve also read a couple of his witty “Letters to Uncle Sam”, and was astonished to find them rather clairvoyant in nature… consider his 1954 “Letter to Uncle Sam” in which he had advice for the US government… he writes:
“Regardless of India and the fuss it is making, you must sign a military pact with Pakistan because you are seriously concerned about the stability of the world’s largest Islamic state, since our mullah is the best antidote to Russian communism. Once military aid starts flowing, the first people you should arm are these mullahs. They will also need American-made rosaries and prayer-mats, not to forget the small stones that they use to soak up the after-drops following a call of nature.”
His other masterpieces include “Babu Gopinath”, “Khol Do”, and “Totwal ka Kutta”… Although somewhat boorish, through his works, Manto successfully managed to negate the restricted definitions of nationalism and cultural credence. Obviously, he was prosecuted for enjoying the liberty to write what his heart desired.