Mottled Dawn: Fifty Sketches and Stories of Partition

Personally, Manto has always been a fascinating author. The first time I was introduced to him was by a senior in a book club meeting in 1st year. In the same year, I happened to watch his biography. Manto was but another person deeply affected and afflicted by the horrible events that followed India's independence and it's partition. The relationship between Manto and Mumbai was unparalleled. Even after being forced to move to Pakistan, he missed and wondered about the city. In Pakistan, Manto drowned himself in alcohol, and perhaps produced some of his greatest work, even if it was but a means to find a way around the poverty prevelant in his new country, which perhaps never felt his own to him.

The book contains 50 sketches and stories of partition by Manto. Most of these he wrote sitting in dimly lit, smelly agencies and offices, in the hopes of earning enough to buy another day of alcohol to drown his sorrows. However, the pain he felt, and the intensity of his emotions are greatly reflected in his stories. The horrifying acts committed by humans against humans that Manto witnessed all around him are presented in a lucid language, with often a great impact towards the climax. Manto, like he is expected, doesn't shy away from telling us the true picture. He never cared about the numerous suits against him for indecency and obscenity, and the same attitude is somewhat reflected in his writings contained in the book.

The book left me with a heavy heart, and with the horrific realisation that hate is the most unifying thing in the universe, and humans are the most inhumane creatures on this planet.