Writers Paid Homage To Shoukat Shoro & Rasool Memon At Jamshoro

 

(Late Shoukat Hussain Shoro (L) and Late Dr. Rasool Memon (R)

In a meeting of Sindhi Adabi Sangat (SAS) Sindh University Chapter, writers paid rich tributes to two great Sindhi story writers and novelists Shoukat Hussain Shoro and Rasool Memon, who passed away recently.

SAS (SU chapter) meeting was held at Teachers’ Club, Jamshoro on Friday and was presided by well-known poet Hussain Sarang, while speakers including renowned scholar and critic Dr. Mubarakh Lashari, Scholar and researcher M. Adam Butt, renowned Sindhi novelist Kaleem Butt, Novelist and researcher Mohammad Yousif Joyo, Researcher and writer Mr. Fahim Noorani, Dr. Hadi Bux Bozdar and short story writer Zahid Murtaza Dharejo shed light on works of Late Mr. Shoro and Late Dr. Memon.

It was said that one could easily find reflections of three literary movements from fiction of Mr. Shoro, including the progressive movement, nationalism and existentialism, as the said writer had once claimed himself that his writings were inspired from those literary movements. During 1950s as he started his writing career he was inspired from progressive writers’ movement and wrote stories antagonizing the feudal system in Sindhi society, but during One Unit, he was tilted towards nationalism and later on 1970s, being angry young man he started writing stories being inspired by modernism literary trends.

      (SAS, SU Chapter Meeting)

They said that along with his brother Mushtaq Shoro, Muneer Ahmed Manik and Madad Ali Sindhi, Shoukat Shoro was trend-setter as far as fiction according to modernism literary trends was concerned in Sindhi language.

Talking about his stories it was said that one story ‘Rat Jo Rang’ (Colour of Night) depicts the trends of modernism, it is about a young man who has become fed-up of life and wanted to commit suicide and walking on the streets of Karachi, he thinks about his past life and finally he died in an accident. Another story that came under discussion was ‘Nana’ (Grandfather), the theme of this story is incest in Sindhi society, which was a taboo subject but Shoukat Shoro highlighted it.

It was also claimed that along with his fiction, Mr. Shoro also edited and compiled two important anthologies of Sindhi short stories, one was The Hundred Years of Sindhi Short Story, published by Institute of Sindhology, Jamshoro and another Sindhi stories on partition of subcontinent co-edited with Murlidhar Jeetli and was published from Delhi.

While the speakers putting light on the literary contribution of Late Dr. Rasool Memon claimed that Dr. Memon was inspired from writing of great Latin American writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez. They said that fiction of Rasool Memon could be classified into four categories including abstract stories, symbolic stories, surrealism and magic realism.

His noted work included Najoomi (novel), 19 Aurtoon (novel), Qalubala (novel), Akh Chamb (novel), Haleeman (short stories), Ishq jo Aseeb (short stories), Syndrome (short stories) and before his sudden demise he completed his last novel Kutta.

They said that Dr. Memon was a unique fiction writer who introduced new literary trends in Sindhi fiction, while his writings had philosophical touches.

At the end it was decided that in coming days SAS (SU chapter) would organize a condolence reference of the two abovementioned writers.