Caesar, Mata Hari, and Mirza

anNy:

“ref: altaf fatima, who`re the publishers? here only oup, alhamra and liberty kee books are freely available..rest, non mainstream books kae liyae you have to depend on thaelas and sunday bazaar, especially pakistani writings in english..have u any nice book places where u get iss tarah kee kitabain in lahore?”

……the book’s part of an asian writers series bought for me by a friend from england…..the publishers are heinemann….there are a few good second hand book shops, and stalls in lhr…but pakistani writings in eng. are sadly hard to come by….

…sad news for those interested in urdu literature...three more bite the dust…baksh lyallpuri, akhtar amaan and sehba lucknawi
read raaftaagaaN by amjad islam smjad in urdu at

http://www.jang.net/editorial/index1.cfm?ed_fullpath=http://www.jang.com.pk/jang/apr2002-daily/03-04-2002/editorial/index.html&top_fullpath=http://www.jang.com.pk/jang/apr2002-daily/03-04-2002/top.htm&cont_fullpath=http://www.jang.com.pk/jang/apr2002-daily/03-04-2002/cont.htm

afrasiyab #41:

...welcome back!...kahaaN haiN aap?..still living out of suitcases;)...write...can put you in touch with yusufi (no guarantee that he would see you though)and many other useful folks time permitting...ttemporal@lycos.com...

rgds,

t

Actually I read it in Urdu. I have a small collection of

his stories and I thought Subhan Bhagat stood out.

I will try and find out, if I can, what year was this

story written in and/or when it was published. I

also read another book that was translated in Urdu

from Hindi about PC written by his second wife. I

think the book is called ``Prem Chand ghar mein``<

BR>

It really is a very good book and is not written in the

usual biographical manner. Instead, she just

recounts stuff that happenned and that she

remembers. Almost in the way children are told

stories about their elders. Also it is written entirely

from her perspective and Prem Chand was not a

part of that writing. I was surprised to find out that

she was an author in her own right and had written

a few very good stories. I wish I could get my

hands on them. Inshallah, will look for them if I

can, when I go back to Pakistan this summer.<

BR>

Speaking of going back, I was also hoping to find

out if anyone knows a way for me to get in touch

with Mushtaq Y. I was interested in finding out if he

still lives in Karachi and what is it that he is doing

these days. Anyone!

Re: anNy, #38

I started working on Caesar before Sept 11. I

shelved it due to the 9/11 mess that followed. I

picked it again about a couple of months ago. It

does take a while to translate because I take my

time due to work, social obligations, watching

sitcoms, reading other books, or simply just

hanging out.

Translation requires a lot of thinking and

concentration. I`ll try not to take as much time as

before. Premchand is next on my list (as soon as I

get his books in the mail, I`ll start the translation.)

You seem very interested in Pitrus. I believe it was

in the 9th grade in Pakistan when we were

assigned to read him. The story was about dogs,

which I don`t remember at all. Other than that, I

haven`t read Pitrus. I`ll need to get his books from

somewhere first. I`ll try to make him after

Premchand. [Pitrus? Patrus? I don`t know which

spelling to stick with!]

Re: Those Who Commented on My Translation<

BR>

I translated Manto and Yusufi on my own. I feel

humbled that others are asking me to translate

great writers` work from Urdu. Thank you anNy,

Prem, Pankaj, Subroto, temporal, Urstruly, sac,

Stuka, Yasser, semipreciousme. You guys are just

great. Thank you so much for your

encouragement.

afrasiyab

In which language was this story ``Subhan Bhagat`` written. If it was Urdu, is a Hindi/English translation available anywhere?

godot:

how long to patrus translations? there was quite a gap between this one and the last one- does it take long to translate or is it that you take your time and do it?

semi:

ref: altaf fatima, who`re the publishers? here only oup, alhamra and liberty kee books are freely available..rest, non mainstream books kae liyae you have to depend on thaelas and sunday bazaar, especially pakistani writings in english..have u any nice book places where u get iss tarah kee kitabain in lahore? i got zubaida agha`s short stories at frere hall a few months back and just now saw her work in muneeza shamsies anthopolgy of pakistani writings in english and realized she was quite a celebrated writer ..muneeza shamsies `dragonfly in the sky- pakistani writings in english` by the way is a fine fiine book if you can get your hands on it..was published by oup as part of the 50 year celebrations..has excerpts from long novels, poetry, short stories, essays etc by writers of pakistani origin...you should be able to get at oxforduniv.press lahore

t:

mable or mae..LOL..that was a funny funny story..i totally loved it....would you know what the other one is called, where the poor chap is just not able to pass his exams..he tried and tries but it just doesnt happen..think he lived in a hostel?

Re: temporal, #36

No problem, t. Very sorry to hear about Anand Bakhshi passing away. He was indeed a great song writer, a legend. He wrote some excellent songs. May his soul rest in peace.

...hope you don`t mind godot if i borrow this board for a sec.?...t

_______________________________________________

Veteran lyricist, Anand Bakshi,who wrote over 4,000 songs including all time hits from several Hindi films, died on Saturday following protracted illness, family sources said.


http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Articleshow.asp?art_id=5391431

Re: Prem, #17

``we are underestimating Godot.``

Thank you, Prem. This puts a lot of pressure on me, however. But that`s okay. I`m used to it.

Re: Pankaj, #34

Thank you for the offer, Pankaj. I was merely joking about the cost. I collect books and have built a small library at my house, which has cost me a small fortune over the years. I don`t mind spending money on books. Premchand`s collection of stories is on its way to me. I`ll select one for translation. afrasiyab sounds very convincing of ``Subhan Bhagat``. But let me pick one.

Thank you for your e-mail address. If I run into Premchand`s phrases/expressions that are alien to me and I feel that not knowing them would take the story`s spirit away in translation, I`ll post my query to you at Chowk (maybe you can tell me now the area Premchand hails from and his ethnic background and native language.) Thanks. [By the way, I live in America.]

Re: Prem, Pankaj et al

Hey, you guys, this is Mushtaq Ahmed Yusufi`s board! If you waste all your Premchand energy on this board, what will talk about on Premchan`s board? Krishan Chandar? [Disrespect not intended.]

Godot

Dont worry about the cost of the book. If you live in Pakistan, Prem or I can send it to you as a gift. If you come across any obscure idioms while translating, you can either post you query on Chowk, or contact us. Since Banjaara comes from a region close to the area and has profound knowledge of the dialects of that area, he can help you a lot. My email is:

pankaj.singh@mailcity.com

PS Mastram also has a good knowledge of dialects besides Prem and Banjaara.

AAmir,

Thanks for those lyrics. I just love them. Now, I need to memorize the entire song...

MastRam,

My dear friend, I am truly blessed. I have attended a real, live, (no TV!) Kavi Sammelan in which Neeraj took part!

Yes! Yes! Yes!...and let me tell you, the guy has the voice and the presence to draw in his audience like the candyfloss man pulls village urchins.

Totally unforgettable experience.

Afrasiyab, MastRam, Pankaj, Banjaara, Temporal, anybody else I left out -

Geez...you guys are all PC ustaads here! Adaab Arz hai, pyaare guruvaron.

Pankaj, man...how could I have forgotten Mantra! Quite embarrassing, really. It is as if I read the story yesterday...so powerful was the original impact.

Banjaara bhaiya, tumhar batiya tau theek hai, but I kind of mentioned only some of PC`s short stories. Between you and me, I tried reading Gaban, but couldn`t make much headway. I was still very young those days (or perhaps, very stupid) when I had to give up almost all my reading in Hindi language.

Afrasiyab, again....don`t seem to have read that story! :( A little hint, please?

t, I knew just a few of those names belonging to AIPW!

About PC`s names -

As far as I can recall, PC`s original name was Dhanpat Rai but his dad (or nana, I am not sure) called him Nawab Rai; and he went by both.

Either way, I am glad he named himself after me. Good taste shows.

Prem,

If you want to get a taste of Munshi ji`s ``village in the background`` stories I would recommend ``Subhan Bhagat,`` easily the best story he wrote, me think.

Does anyone know what Mushtaq A. Yusufi is doing these days. Is he in Pakistan. Is he working on something else. I was reading Aab-e-Gum last night and I will have to tell you, I just hope he has more where that and his other work came from.

Does anyone know how to get in touch with him or write to him. He must be in his 80s if I am correct.

Banjaara and Prem

``Shatranj ke khiladi`` can easily be called one of the outstanding stories of PC. I havent come across a more powerful satire on the socio-political situation in Awadh during 1850s. Banjaara, I like the short stories of Premchand much more than his novels. The rural background, the psychological ``kashm-kash`` of his protaganists and the triumph of Gandhian ideals is the recurrent theme of his stories.

Banjaara has answered your first question of Premchand`s trivia, Prem. Let me try the others without web-searching ;-)

2. Where was the first meeting of the All India Progressive Writers` Association, Chaired by PC, held?

Where else, your hometown ;-). And his first story was published in a newspaper Zamana from from my hometown...

3. Who were some other famous members of AIPWA?

Jeez, this requires web-search. Lemme guess, Faiz?

4. Lastly, what was the name of the literary journal published by PC?

I think it was ``Hans``.