Sunita Bhat
Talib Kashmiri who is a prominent figure in the world of fiction writing in Urdu has now come up with a short story book in English titled “The Wilting Flower”. Some of his stories in English have been published in various magazines and literary supplements of newspapers and some others have also appeared on popular websites, but it is for the first time that a comprehensive short story collection in English in the form of a book has been brought out. The book is in fact the English version of his Urdu short story book “Shanaakht-e-Gul” published by Urdu Book Society, Darya Gunj New Delhi in 2009.
The Book comprises 21 stories including 4 of humor & satire and one write-up captioned ‘The Wilting Flower’ which incidentally has also been selected as the title of the Book. His stories generally concern the life struggle of a common man. Talib Kashmiri holds the opinion that by highlighting the life of ordinary people such as cart puller, an auto rickshaw driver, a primary school teacher, a domestic help, an ailing housewife, a petty official, a lovelorn youth, a common laborer and the like in a story and mentioning about the travails and turbulences they go through and how the rich and influential exploit them for their vested interests, the writers and other categories of people gifted with creative potentialities would be construed truly discharging their duties unto the society. He tries to maintain that colonial and feudalistic mentality still persists manifesting itself in political hooliganism, communal and racial anarchism (The Fire); economic exploitation and blackmail (Salvation, The Powerful & The Theft); nepotism, corruption and gross misuse of power by public servants (The Guilty & The Dilemma), causes and fallout of terrorism (The Reward); disregard for true love and human sufferings(The Forsaken, Separation & The Base Coin); scant respect for human life and compassion (The Killer & The Sordid Blow) etc. On the other hand Talib Kashmiri does not also fail to eulogize all those who are honest and forthright in their dealings with others, who are committed to and working for the uplift of the poor and the downtrodden or betterment of the society. There is no dearth of good characters in his various stories who he considers as the bedrock of any civilized society, such as Anurag (The Base Coin), Raju Cinema (The Theft), Ali Akbar (The Sordid Blow), Dr. Tabbasum Nasreen (The Wheel Chair), Dev Raj (The Dilemma) etc. Talib Kashmiri’s writings indicate that he is a relentless crusader against nepotism and corruption in public life and terms these as cancers of the society. He strongly derides emotional exploitation of normal human beings by the resourceful. He also expresses himself vociferously against the ever widening gulf between the rich and the poor and outrightly rejects the philosophies of a person being exceedingly rich or desperately poor due to what is written in his or her Fate or any kind of reward or punishment of his actions in the past birth and unequivocally blames the perpetrators of such system for this malaise. He also writes vehemently against using man-made social inequalities and economic disparities as an excuse to suppress the genuine aspirations generating from the divine sentiments of love, humanity, compassion and sympathy. Even the stories of pure humor and satire also contain a strong and subtle message impressing the need for shunning selfishness, blind faith in superstitious beliefs and maintaining healthy standards of life. Talib values others’ sentiments and expects it to be reciprocated and one tends to agree with his assertions in the Prologue…… “No writer, poet or anyone bestowed with creative powers naturally in real sense can ever focus his attention on the material and monetary gains or losses only, while using his intrinsic potentials to producing something new from the core of his heart in his field of creativity. Their creative works are not only meant for their self-satisfaction but also for those people who possess a sensitive heart and a sensible mind within them and who know how to respect others’ sentiments.”………It is not only in the choice of wide range of subjects but the masterly manner of weaving the plot of each story and then presenting the same in a very unique and impressive style that deserves praise and attention. The language used is very simple and dignified, and it really goes to the credit of Talib’s pen that even a crude or uncouth scene or situation has been described in a very decent manner without transgressing the fine line between propriety and impropriety. I feel the stories together will make a nice reading and entertainment. The hardbound Book is priced at paltry Rs.250/- but one should not hesitate admitting that it is really a priceless gift from Talib Kashmiri to both humanity and literature considering undoubtedly the high standard of its content and fine sophisticated manner of presentation.
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