“In organising my translations, I wanted to distil the aura that Manto creates of a time, a place, and a moment” - Nasreen Rehman

A lapsed economist, Nasreen Rehman is a historian of emotions and aesthetics. She is a translator, an academic, an award-winning screenplay writer and an activist who believes in the power of the arts to transform lives. Currently, she is the Director of the National Commission on Forced Marriage in UK.

Born in Pakistan, she lives between England and South Asia. Nasreen has a particular affection for Karachi and Rawalpindi, where she spent her childhood, cocooned in the love of her parents. She describes her home as a perpetual theatre with an array of players that included aunts and uncles, magical grandparents, and borderlines very blurred between friends and family.

Nasreen was lured to history by the work of her PhD supervisor, the late Professor Sir C A Bayly. Working on her dissertation, ‘A History of the Cinema in Lahore circa 1919-1947’, she translated 15 hitherto untranslated Saadat Hasan Manto stories for Prof Bayly because she wanted to use Manto as an ethnographer in her thesis. Prof Bayly advised her to write an introduction and have the stories published. When she showed the translations to David Davidar of the Aleph Book Company, he asked her to translate all of Manto’s short stories for his publishing house. Nasreen decided to divide the stories into three volumes, based on the geographical location of the stories because she wanted ‘to distil the aura that Manto creates of a time, a place, and a moment.’ Vol 1 was launched recently at Lahore Literature Festival (LLF).

Nasreen’s translations capture the sharp vivacity of Manto’s prose. The unique selling point of the book is her introduction in which she contextualises Manto’s life and work, with many illuminating insights. In an exclusive interview with You! she talks about her life and her passion for writing...

You! Tell us a bit about your early life?

Nasreen Rehman: I was born and brought up in Pakistan. My childhood was idyllic, spent mostly in Karachi, a beautiful city by the sea, with gorgeous bougainvillaeas and gul mohur trees. Our house was a perpetual circus with friends and relations dropping by, and frequent trips to Hawkes Bay, Sands Pit, Paradise Point and Thatta.

My formal education started in Pakistan, when my father (Fazlur Rahman Khan - known as FR to friends and colleagues) was transferred from Karachi to Pindi; I was enrolled at Presentation Convent High School, at age nine, and was 16 when I left. Apart from my piano lessons, I found school deadly dull. I much preferred being at home, where we had an excellent library and everyone around me - including family and friends were reading (mainly English and Urdu), and discussing ideas and global events - and where I could play pop songs on my piano, away from the surveillance of the nuns and Miss Fernandes, my piano teacher.

Now, at 72, looking back, I understand how family and close friends shaped my education more than school. In my formative years, the people who had a profound influence on my life included my Abba, Amma, Nana, Nani, and the brilliant humanist lawyer, Baba Zainul Abedin, from East Pakistan, Uncle Manzur Qadir, his beautiful and dynamic wife, Aunty Asghari (who shaped the Family Planning movement in Pakistan), and their two argumentative sons, Basharat (who is a lawyer), and Asghar (a physicist) - took the place of brothers I did not have - and were always ready to dispute or explore an idea; and Shireen Apa, their daughter, who remains a role model. Uncle Raschid and Aunty Husna, and their daughter Marina, strengthened the influence of East Pakistan and Bengal in my life.

Time and again at university, at Government College Lahore, London and Cambridge, although I did not study literature, it would strike me how two teachers at Presentation Convent had enhanced for me the joy and rapture of English and Urdu literature - Mother Anunciata, and the inimitable Mrs Mustapha, respectively.

I was 11, when poet Mohtrama Zehra Nigah, Zehra Bi and Majid Cha came into my life. Zehra Bi, who introduced me to Manto, remains a beloved mentor, friend and teacher. Here I must mention Aunty Naz, my first real friend - mother of my classmate Shahla Rafi. Aunty Naz introduced me to Qurutul Ain Haider, and Iris Murdoch - we spent hours listening to Bach. Aunty Naz shared my appreciation of our classical and western classical music and relished my pursuit of learning the sitar and the piano.

And, it was in Pindi, in the 1960s that I met Dr Mahbub ul Haq, the brilliant economist, who went on to devise the Human Development Index in 1989, making it a cornerstone of development economics He was a vibrant and generous teacher, who introduced me to the discipline of economics, which I pursued at university. Nevertheless, in my thirties, I was lured to the discipline of history by the work of the late Prof Sir C A Bayly. More than a decade later I went back to university and supervised by him at Cambridge, where I completed my PhD thesis.

You! How long have you been into writing?

NR: I have been writing for long years - mainly for my parents, and children. For me, writing is neither a hobby nor a full-time job - it is a compulsion.

You! What inspired you to translate Manto’s stories?

NR: I became addicted to Manto from the time Zehra Bi introduced me to his story Mozelle, when I was 13.

You! Is this your first book based on translations?

NR: No, I have translated Yaad Ki Rahguzar, the Urdu memoir of Shaukat Kaifi Sahiba. She was a progressive theatre and film actor, married to the poet Kaifi Azmi. In Urdu, the title sounds poignant, but I thought the literal translation ‘Memory Lane’ was too much of a cliché in English, and instead used the title Kaifi and I - after all, the book is about the time she spent with the love of her life Kaifi Azmi. Her daughter Shabana Azmi, an acclaimed actor and activist, and her husband Javed Akhtar, the famous screenwriter, lyricist, and poet used the title of my book for the play, which he wrote and they performed on stage.

You! How would you describe Manto to someone who has not read his work?

NR: Born in 1912, Manto was a man kept alive by writing. Without writing - he would have died a lot earlier than the forty-two years that he lived. Manto was repelled by the middle class milieu into which he was born. To expose its hypocrisy, he trained on it the twin lens of violence and sexuality. Manto is a terrific essayist and short-story writer. Many of his essays read like short stories, and some short stories read like essays.

You! Why three volumes instead of one comprehensive book?

NR: Manto was a prolific writer. He has written countless essays, and at least 250 stories. It would not have been possible to publish all his stories in one volume. I continue to be struck by the economy with which Manto creates an aura of a time, a place, a moment or a character. So, I decided to collate the stories into three volumes. Volume 1 has 53 stories located in Bombay and Poona and two essays. Volume 2 has over a hundred stories located in other parts of colonial India - mainly Amritsar and Delhi. Volume three has about a hundred, in which the action takes place in Pakistan.

You! Volume 1 was recently launched at LLF. How was the experience?

NR: I enjoyed my interaction with talented theatre and cinema professionals, such as Samia Mumtaz, Shahid Nadeem, and Sarmad Khoosat, the moderator - all of whom have worked with Manto’s writings. It was especially exciting to see how Lahoris packed Hall 1 of Alhamra for Manto, who lived the last years of his life in this city - dogged by charges, and convictions for obscenity, incarceration in the local lunatic asylum, escalating alcoholism, ill health and poverty.

You! How long did it take you to finish Vol 1?

NR: It took over five years to complete Vol 1. This was because I had to find Manto’s voice; plus, I wrote a longish introduction, which I had to explore and research. Importantly, like most translators, I receive a meagre amount for my work - certainly not a living wage. This part of my life is subsidised by my job, as director of the National Commission on Forced Marriage in the UK, and teaching.

You! How have the readers received your work so far?

NR: Vol 1 was published in India, last year. My publishers tell me it has sold well, and on the whole, the reviews have been positive. Sadly, the book is not available in Pakistan. Now, I have the license to print it here and am looking for a publisher.

You! What is the most important advice you can give to women?

NR: To fight for their rights to education, property, and equality. In Pakistan - the right to be a witness and give evidence. These are the only ways that women can be financially independent, stand on their feet, and be autonomous subjects.

You! What are the challenges, in your eyes, that are being faced by women today?

NR: Women must stand together to challenge misogyny and patriarchy that are retrenching across the globe. Look at the overturning of Roe vs Wade in the US. Furthermore, the global climate crises are hitting women hard.

You! What did you like to read when you were a little girl?

NR: I was surrounded by books at home and read, read, and read. My sister and I didn’t get money but always had an account at the best bookshops in Karachi and Rawalpindi. I preferred Alif Laila and Amir Hamza to Noddy, and the other Enid Blyton books at hand.

You! Have you thought of writing in Urdu?

NR: I do write in Urdu but I have not published my writings.

You! What are some of your favourite ways to relax and have fun?

NR: Playing with my grandchildren tops the fun list - followed by sharing good food, tea or coffee, and conversations with friends, usually one-on-one. Making or listening to music. I prefer to go to the movies and the theatre on my own. Long walks in England, again, on my own. Sadly, this is not possible in Pakistan - at least not around where I live. There are no pavements - they have been encroached upon by people extending their gardens outside their boundary walls. In our country, there is no regard for pedestrians.

You! Your philosophy of life:

NR: It might sound trite, but I continue to watch, listen, and feel the sheer magic, power and beauty in simply being human. Throughout history, there are many examples of the human will to conviviality and peace. So, my philosophy is to live in peace, goodwill, and love with fellow human beings - and with our magical planet, which we are so knowingly and willingly bent upon destroying. I think, we need a utopian vision to get us out of the dystopian practices of violence and fascism that abound across the world.

You! What’s next on your agenda?

NR: I hope to complete the projects I am involved with - and spend time with people I love - Lulu and Izzy, my grandchildren, my daughters, my son-in-law, family and close friends.