Google's tribute to Manto and its relevance.

Byline: Peerzada Salman

KARACHI -- These are tough times. One of the things keeping people away from getting into the clutches of despondency in isolation is reading books. On Monday, Google paid tribute to one of the distinguished names in Urdu literature, Saadat Hasan Manto, on his 108th birthday by coming up with a nice little doodle of the short story writer.

The doodle intelligently captures the image of the man, bespectacled, holding a pen in his right hand with sheets of paper and penholders on the table. He is looking out of the frame, pensively. The background has two shades of blue against the white base.

Manto was born on May 11, 1912 in Samrala (Ludhiana) in the Indian state of Punjab. Growing up in the 1920s was a time when India was in the throes of agitation. Resistance against the British Raj was gaining momentum with tragic incidents such as the one that took place at Jalianwala Bagh whose effects were reverberating throughout the entire country. Manto had found his calling at an early stage in his life: literature. He was fond of stories and had read quite a lot as a young man. His...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT