The Quilt

I m really impressed by the english version of ``Lihaf``. You have done a great job.

excellent work godot....
since my urdu is horrible, i would not have been able to understand this wonderful piece by chughtai...
thanks

whenever the sexualty of some one is discussed in public ,to my mind it is dehumanizing,
it is also a affront to the dignity of the said individuals, it is like unwittingly trying to shame a
beggar for feeling the pangs of hunger.As long as the act of sexual consumation is between
consenting adults,whether male-female or any other combination! it dosent matter!they should be left to the privacy of their wants and needs( i am sure most of us must be familiar with maslows hierarchy of needs)

Hello Godot,

Your translation is really good. Though I agree that anything written in vernacular medium is more enjoyable to read it as it is. But in your case I wouldn`t compare the two, as I have read the urdu version and now I read the english and I must congratulate you that you have done a good job with it.

ciao

Hello Godot,

Your translation is really good. Though I agree that anything written in vernacular medium is more enjoyable to read it as it is. But in your case I wouldn`t compare the two, as I have read the urdu version and now I read the english and I must congratulate you that you have done a good job with it.

ciao

Khatam-shud (like your alias), thanks! You are right about translations not mirroring the original. Because it’s a “cultural change,” it cannot. As a translator, I have observed that the key element in translating is the “spirit” of the story: keeping the universal appeal intact, other cultural settings can be modified to make it a smooth transition from one culture to another. I hope you enjoy my other writings as well. I agree with your thoughts 100%. Good literature is good literature regardless of the language in which it is written.

Thanks, Urstruly. Perhaps I`m improving as a writer...

The story is beautiful. The translation doesnt quite convey the pathos of the original. but then again, which translation does? Its nice to know that you make the effort and im looking forward to reading your earlier chowk submissions (im new to this place).

one thought though: Good literature is good literature. language doesnt matter. urdu lit is no better than english lit and vice versa. or any language for that matter, does not produce better literature than another language. What matters is our own personal experience with the novel, or play, or poem or short story. What matters is how we read literature and how we confront it.

Another great deed done by Godot, Kudos.

The quality of work in this piece is definitely and infinitly better than the previous ones.

Danny-khi: Thanks. And as for your quest for God: Seek and you shall find.

Sac, you are a tough grader. I’ll take your “OK” as “pretty good”. Thanks!

RZaidi: I’m glad you liked it. But I won’t go as far as saying that Urdu litt. is better than English. Every culture has produced some excellent literature. I’m just glad that I can bring literature from Urdu, the only language I know other than English, to a wider English-reading audience such as you.

Rozaiba, it’s definitely an awesome story. Glad you liked it.

Naqshbandi: Thanks. But I differ with your thought that this piece is popular because of its controversial theme. I loved this story because of its literary style. It is so well told. It’s certainly high literature.

Tainted: Thank you for liking it.

ZahraJ: Thanks. I don’t know anything about the background of this story. The Chowk Editors added the footnote. Maybe they can answer your question.

Banjaara: Thanks! No, I don’t know my Aytul Kursi. The only suras I remember from my childhood when I was taught to recite them are Fatiha and one of the four Quls (the easy one, of course!)

Feroz: Thanks. You’re right. You and I have gotten to know and understand each other quite well over the years. I hope we meet one day, old friend.

Dost-mittar: Thanks, dost. I didn’t get your “Godan” reference. I think you meant Premchand’s Good-riddance. You are correct. This story was culturally more familiar to me than Premchand’s. You have a good suggestion. For translations I do look for a story and not the author. I’ll see if I can find a good story by a not-so-well-known Urdu author.

Godot:
I enjoyed this translation more than your translation of Godan, maybe because you were working with a more familiar medium this time.
May I suggest that you might turn your attention to some lesser known Urdu writers or the lesser known works of well-known authors, which have not been previously translated.

Banjara:

It`s interesting since I also thought of those two words and they never rung a bell. But then I was more interested in appreciating the writer`s effort vs. his command on Ayat`ul`Kursi.

Godot

Nice to see you back, old friend.

It has to be one of your better efforts and I can see, you still pull a heavy oar.

Ciao

Godot,
This is your best effort so far. Congratulations on a wonderfully smooth translation. The ayat-al- Kursi part she was forgetting is:``ya`lamo ma baina`` instead of ``Laleem Mabeen``. Perhaps you need to get YOUR ayat-al Kursi right ;)

RZaidi,
Ismat Chughtai was an Indian, however, her youngest brother, who is a lawyer and hand-writing expert, is a Pakistani, settled in Karachi.

Go .

Very well put together and flowing effort.

I did not understand the footnote. Does that mean that Ismat met this young girl in reality and was describing the story on her behalf?

Please clarify.

Thanks.

Thats true Naqshbandi. Anything controversial definitely becomes popular. Anyway, this piece is really amazing... I had no idea that such themes existed in Urdu literature, other than Manto`s work.