According to some devotees of Urdu literature, if one hasn't read the works of the legendary Qurratulain Hyder one may as well vanish off from the face of the earth. Held in extremely high regard by Urdu bibliophiles, she is, akin to Charles Dickens and Mark Twain, a pioneer in the genre of historical fiction.

Hyder was a copious wordsmith, who authored 12 novels and novelettes and four collections of short stories. Not confining to fiction she also ventured into translations of classics (Portrait of a Lady by Henry James, Murder in the Cathedral by T.S. Eliot, Nashtar by Hasan Shah) and accounted her family narrative in Kar-i-Jahan Daraz Hai.

She received several awards from the Indian government such as the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1967, Jnanpith Award in 1989 and Padma Bhushan in 2005 for her outstanding contribution to Urdu literature.

Even though her novels such as Aag Ka Darya, Gardish-i-Rang-i-Chaman, Aakhir-i-Shab Kay Hamsafar and Meray Bhi Sanam Khanay gathered immense laurels, for some curious reason her short stories and novelettes have not received much attention. 

Her short story Jilawatan (The Exiles) was written back in the 1950s, just under a decade after the trauma of Partition had occurred. Set in Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh, it tells the story of Kanwal Kumari and Kishwari, two childhood friends whose lives are thrown off balance because of political events that took place before and after 1947.

Their friendship is fractured to such an extent that cruel judgments, more suited to foes than friends, are passed by each.

Aside from this, the numerous problems Indian Muslims faced in their adopted country after Partition, which included harassment by police officials, unemployment and doubts about their loyalty, have been sensitively portrayed by Hyder.

Jilawatan has strong political overtones throughout its 15 pages but within it there is also a failed love affair between Kanwal Kumari, now leading a dull married life with her diplomat husband, and Aftab Rai, a history professor who is living an obscure life in London. Hyder also discusses the many similarities between India's Hindus and Muslims, especially those who lived in villages and small towns.

Hyder's novelette Housing Society tracks the fluctuating fortunes of the three protagonists — Syed Jamshed Ali, Suraiyya Hussain and Salma Mirza — all of whom hail from Mohammad Ganj, a village in Uttar Pradesh with old-fashioned values.

Their portrayals are so well etched that Hyder never loses her footing. No judgment is passed about the characters and each one of them has their lives played out in the way determined by their particular circumstance.

Housing Society is a fascinating read as it deals with a heady concoction of multiple issues corruption, the emergence of independent working women, westernisation of society (particularly the new immigrants),
cut-throat competition and imprisonment of communists.

Indeed, her novelette Chai Kay Baagh (The Tea Gardens) was so enjoyable that I read it twice. In it Hyder unfolds the lives of three women Zareena, wife of a tea plantation manager and settled in Shamsheer Nagar, a tea research station in Sylhet; Sanobar Zafar Ali, Zareena's neighbour; and Mrs Rita Fraser, the wife of a Canadian businessman who along with her husband is visiting Shamsheer Nagar.

Zareena is the cousin of the narrator, who arrives at the research station to film a documentary. It is four years after Partition and Zareena is disappointed by the life she is leading. Even though she has a medical degree, she spends all her time ordering about the servants, playing mahjong with the other wives and organising the annual charity bazaar.

Sanobar is the daughter of Zafar Ali, a doctor and politician in Assam. She has married three times and all the three men were best friends. Finally there is Rita Fraser, the most intriguing character in Chai Kay Baagh, who creates aliases depending on the relationships she pursues and acts out her roles so convincingly that most men fall for her disguises.

Hyder's exploration of several diverse themes is at its full glory in Chai Kay Baagh; whether it is economic disparity, adultery, the rise of the nouveau riche or illegal immigrants, each theme is skillfully interwoven within the accounts of the three protagonists.

While reading these stories one will stumble upon phrases which are no longer seen in literary works. Phrases such as chughad aadmi (a foolish person), musafahay kay liye (bringing forward your hands for a handshake), tau aam (twins) and kat khudati (marriage).

Reacquainting oneself with Urdu phrases no longer in popular usage is only one of the many benefits of visiting the wondrously colourful world of Qurratulain Hyder.