LAHORE: Speakers at a discussion on Abdullah Hussein’s best-selling novel Udas Naslain, The Weary Generations published in 1963, said that Abdullah Hussein like other writers of his era depicted the true picture of society.
The discussion was organised at Liberty Books, The Mall of Lahore, on Friday in which history teacher and renowned translator Raza Naeem, daughter of Abdullah Hussein Noor Fatima and Bilal Tanweer discussed different aspects of the life of Abdullah Hussein and his various novels, especially The Weary Generations.
It is rare for a translated work to survive the legacy and celebration of the original work. Yet in the case of the twentieth century Indian Subcontinent, such was the case with a celebrated novel Udas Naslain.
Speaking on the occasion, Raza Naeem was of the view that Abdullah Hussein never knew how to read and write Urdu, but still he was one of the best Urdu novelists. He added that when Abdullah Hussein wrote novels, he used many new words, which was very important for the survival of any language. Raza further said that Abdullah Hussein had depicted the exact situation of society in his novels – of pre-partition as well as post-partition. He added that the novel The Weary Generation was a vibrant portrayal of the extensive disenchantment and seismic turmoil of the partition era that directed to the creation of Pakistan.
He added that the novel could be easily divided into three parts – one based on the events revolving around the partition of India Subcontinent in 1947, second on a description of politics and sociology of undivided Punjab and third on a love story that begins, flourishes and finally fails, along with British colonialism in India.
While speaking on occasion, Noor Fatima told the audience about the lifestyle of Abdullah Hussein and how he had always been in pain after looking at the situation of Pakistani people.
She said that he had always been concerned about the situation of people living on both sides of the border, which eventually brought a label of “anti-Pakistan” to him.
She said that in his novel The Weary Generations, Abdullah Hussein talked about the generation that got Pakistan after too much struggle but did not even know how to take care of the country and what to do with the resources.
The talk not only revisited Abdullah Hussein’s iconic translation, which has unjustifiably received far less critical attention than its Urdu variant, but throw light on the back story that went into its writing, as well as the poetics and politics of Subcontinental history, the Punjabi milieu and the plight of the women protagonists rampant throughout The Weary Generations.
