Today’s fiction writers highlight realities of society,

says satirist Fazal Javed

M. M. Syed
Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH — “Today’s fiction and short-story writers concentrate on the daily problems and the facts of human life. They don’t care much about polishing language. Most of them are not wordy. Their realistic approach to daily life touches readers’ hearts,” said Fazal Javed, a senior short-story writer and satirist , adding, “Urdu short-story writing and humor and satire have been influenced by the global progress in education and the information revolution.”

In an interview with the Saudi Gazette, Javed highlighted the history of short-story writing in light of different literary movements. 
Javed, originally Syed Fazlullah, was born in 1936 in Warangal District of Andhra Pradesh in a respectable family that had a Mansab (rank) in the State of Hyderabad.

His father, Syed Ataullah, due to his employment, lived in Warangal. After his schooling in Warangal, Javed passed his BA and MA from Hamidiyah College, Bhopal. He was also the editor of his college magazine. 

At the time, his short stories were published by Zanjeer Bhopal, Naya Daur, Aaj Kal, Beeswin Sadi, Shama, Ruby, Shabistan in India and Nigar in Pakistan. When a graduate student, his paper titled “The Parody in Urdu Language” drew the attention of literary people. Later, he compiled and edited a special issue on parody of Shugoofa monthly, a famous satire magazine that is published from Hyderabad.

Javed has published more than 100 short stories and literary articles. Some of his articles are investigative and deal with creative writing, drama and literary criticism. According to critics, “The clarity and lucidity of his language and style attracts readers. His mind is creative, his similes and metaphors are exact and language is very polished.”

When asked about the lack of Dakhani (Deccan’s) influence on his Urdu, Javed said, “My teachers in Bhopal were from North India and Delhi; apart from this my father was very careful and believed in the purity of Urdu language. Dakhani has an important place among South Indian languages but where Urdu is concerned the beauty lies in its purity.”

Javed is a fan of famous short story writers Krishna Chander and Saadat Hasan Manto. He writes humor and satire and Pakistani humorist and satirist Mushtaq Yusufi and Col. Shafiqur Rahman have stirred his imagination. 
He is happy that during the post-modern era, Urdu literature has come out unscathed from the experiments of the Progressive Movement and the Modernism Movement.

“The Progressive Movement and Modernism, due to their excesses, sometimes dented the soul of Urdu literature and poetry but now people are aware of the fact that extremism is against human nature. 

“Today’s writers have discovered this truth. Now they use a language that is subtle, reasonable and natural. This makes them more acceptable than some writers of those movements,” said Javed.