Sultan Jameel Nasim’s “lost man”

By Yunus Ahmer

 

This extract is from the fiction, “Khoya Hua Aadmi” (the lost man) which is also the title of the collection of 26 short stories by Sultan Jamil Nasim who has already attained name and fame among contemporary fiction writers.  The basic qualities of his stories are based on certain issues and problems that we are confronted with.  He uses symbols to make the fiction more dynamic and powerful.  His symbols are  understandabls    

Understandable.  They do not misguide the readers.  Mikhail who is the main character of the story is under the spell of so many questions.  He is lost in the jungle of known and unknown mysteries or life.  He is wandering from one place to another.  He is searching his own existence to find out who is he?  He had thought that he would get peace of mind here but was disillusioned.  “I know that I do not exist and therefore I have started searching myself.  But you have no feeling about yourself.  I have learnt to express my hatreds buy you conceal your love like hatred.  You do not know that you are torn into two pieces…”

This is the bitter irony of the whole story.  The author could not bear the sarcastic                            words of Mikhail and therefore he stopped the tape recorder and used filthy language against Mikhail.  Sultan Jamil Nasim has showed our real face which reflects our duality and hypocrisy.  He is very soft in his tone but the after-effect is rather unenduring.  His observation is so keen tat he does not fail to miss even a simple event that is happening before him.  It appears as if in the halo of his mind he visualises that every creative artist must endeavour to brighten the flame love and truth and feel the anguish and aff

Downtrodden people.

“Ghar Ka Raasta” is the first story in the book which immediately attracts the readers.  Modern man is so much engrossed in day to day problem that he forgets his own house.  This story is in fact, the symbol of frustration and disillusionment that a conscious man has been facing.  The end of the story is startling.  The lost man  was about to ask the address of his house when his son rescues him from confusion.  The boy says, “Daddy, you are standing before the house and asking the address?”  The plot is quite new and the treatment speaks of his craftsmanship.  “Meray Liye” (For me) is the second story in the book.  Although the plot is not new yet the manner he has treated the plot makes it clear  that he has full grip over the art of story telling.

So are other stories which provide food for thought in the minds of the readers.  The subjects of the stories are varied and related to our daily life.  His characters are not super human beings.  They belong to us and therefore they attract us.  Apart from characterisation, Sultan Jameel Nasim knows the technique of portraying the atmosphere.  It is quite evident from his stories that he deeply cultivates them with hard labour.  He collects the raw material for his stories from the events that he observes.  Then he ponders over them and finally decided to give them the shape of a story.  The plot of the story titled, “Asseb” invites our attention because it reflects the harsh reality of our daily life.  Modern man is inclined towards on thing and that is accumulation of wealth, no matter how it comes.  Our lust to become rich overnight has forced us to  use sleeping pills.  We have lost our peace of mind.  The incidents of heart attack are mounting everyday.

Khalil is the main character of this story.  Every now and then he feels as if somebody is following him.  One day while going to the factory, he opened the door of the car and suddenly he felt that someone is present inside.  His suspicions created in him the seeds of a guilty man.  One day when he thought to consult the doctor about his disturbed mind, he felt somebody’s grip on his neck and the receiver of the telephone fell down from his hand.  This is the tragic end of a person who hankered after wealth.

His “Mutthi Bhar Raushni” (A handful of light) reflects a tussle between the old and the new.  The story starts like this: “I am the vision of time and I am looking.”  The old man is the symbol of old tradition.  He is very particular about lighting the lamp in the lane.  His son chastises him on this act of foolishness but he loves to a foolish than to be a miser.  He says: “Since the day I have built this house, I have not let the lane remain in darkness.  I am the last of the lineage.  A flame of light is being shivering in me.  Come forward and declare that you are the last of the lineage.  Light the lamp from this flame and add so much light that the persons who think that they are the last of the lineage provide light to their mind.  Come light the lane so that the entire city is bright.”

This extract is the sum total of the story, and also a manifesto of his conscious mind.

All the characters of his stories are real men and women and not the plastic figures.  He believes in the manifestation of truth.  As Sholokhov had repeatedly insisted that a writer must be able to tell the truth “however bitter”, and that a work of literature must be judged first and foremost from the standpoint of historical truth.  There is no doubt that a writer must be able to defend the truth into which he has put his all.   No  compromises are admissible here.  The writer must have sufficient knowledge of his material property and he must live among the people he is writing about.  Sultan Jameel Nasim has given enough proof of this basic quality of an honest writer.  He tries to share worries, joys and the sorrows of the people who hold the present and future of mankind in their hands.  He is fully aware of his responsibility as a writer.  He always gives vent to his conscious feelings about the problems mankind has been facing these days.

I am highly delighted to go through his stories included in the collection.  They all represent the emotions and feelings of “a lost man” who is bewildered to see that atrocities are being inflicted on those who are truthful and honest in their disposition.  I am  constrained to write that our critics have so far not mentioned his art when discussing about modern short story writers.  He deserves more than that.

What is also most significant about the book is that every story bears a meaningful and beautiful sketch.  The dust cover is  most sophisticated and artistic.  The book has been printed on glazed paper.

 

Morning News, Friday, February 14, 1986