Pindiites enjoy entertaining session on short stories

The appetite for short stories among readers has not changed over the past decades. Collections are being published, good review space, media coverage and other platforms are there. There are so many versions and variety. It’s like lightning, you don’t know where that strike will occur.

At times the experience of listening to comments on the short stories is electrifying, but on some occasions tougher. Short story is often emotive, provocative, and requires absolute technical mastery. That can mean much disagreement when judgements are made.

A book of Urdu short stories by Prof Wasim Jibran titled ‘Ratti Gali Ki Larki’ remained under discussion by various speakers at Rawalpindi Arts Council.

The session on short stories was undeniably one of the most entertaining the Arts Council Rawalpindi offered. Throwing light on the work of Prof Wasim Jibran everybody had a different thought. Some debaters took the issue with other speakers’ statements. Some of the remarks were wide off the mark, however everybody presented congratulations to the writer.

Some did pass good comments on Wasim Jibran’s short stories that he has created a cracking piece of literature, keeping his short stories tight and every word of his short stories earns its place on the page. Some said Wasim doesn’t indulge in overwriting as it kills pace and is like wading through mud.

One speaker said that I pick the stories that stay with me because sometimes I read a story and maybe technically it’s great and I can’t really fault it, but it passes through me. I would rather pick a story that is unusual or has a unique voice and maybe isn’t quite as polished or as perfectly structured, but there’s something special about it as Wasim Jibran’s.

One of the speakers termed his short stories as intense, passionate, forceful, penetrating, a bite into a world bursting with flavor and said that characters in Wasim Jibran’s short stories do something big in a life’s micro drama, so, he builds tension and doesn’t shy away from the incredible themes.

One commentator said that through use of psychological acuity, narrative torque, dissonance, discovery, dilemma, potency, and imaginative range, Wasim Jibran makes the short stories interesting. To end with, the conclusion is crucial in his short stories and it’s natural to rush because he is so relieved that he made it. A good ending leaves the readers wondering what happens long after the last word. It’s the key that unlocks the next stage of his short stories.

Those who spoke on the occasion included: Dr Nisar Turabi, Farkhanda Shamim, Hameed Qaiser, Fatima Alvi, Dr Sher Ali, Riffat Waheed and Saleem Akhtar. Prof Jamil Yousaf presided over the ceremony.