Akhtar Hafeez: The Bold And Blunt Voice Of Modern Sindhi Fiction

From quite a long time Sindhi literature has broken its tradition of poetry and Sindhi writers have also realized the importance of prose fiction as well. A good number of Sindhi novels and collections of short stories have been published, while a new discussion regarding Sindhi prose fiction has started, which is a healthy sign.

Recently I came across with collection of my dear friend Akhtar Hafeez's short stories titled 'Teeh Minute', published by Kavita Publication, Hyderabad. This book contains 17 short stories and is spread over 112 pages.

Akhtar is a well-known Sindhi short story writer, blogger and columnist. His writings have direct impact his on readers, while he constantly writes on political crisis in the country, history of Sindh and social issues.

 He is bold and blunt in his writings, one good thing about Akhtar's writing is, he fully knows what he is writing and has the ability to present bitter and harsh realities with ease. His published work includes Barsat Kahn Po ( Collection of short stories), Adab Ain Samaj (Literary Criticism), Collection of Nizar Kabani's Poetry (Translation) and Teeh Minute (Collection of short stories).

The 17 stories in this collection include: Waryal Jo Vihaan, Katchi Maseet, Teeh Minute, Jeewan Peerah, Gulfaroosh Jo Moot, Oxygen, Bach, Kaal, 3017, Waryal In Politics, Chand Lahi Wayo, Kowan Jo Lashkar, Meeran Ji Kahani, Aabi Martial Law, Tanha Musafat, Saar, and Khushgawar Pal.
Though all his stories in this collection are mind blowing but I am going to mention few of his remarkable stories.

Katchi Maseet: The plot of this story is increasing religious extremism in our society, Akhrar has depicted that phenomena in this story , a village set in remote Sindh has just one mud-walled mosque, but people of different faiths live peacefully in the village, suddenly a group of religious preachers with extremist views settles in this village and builds a beautiful mosque having red bricks and tiles and start intoxicating the minds of villagers with religious fanaticism, finally a blast occurs in the mosque and it is known that the preachers were involved in terrorist activities.

Oxygen: This is a science fiction story about town where oxygen has become so important that all the transactions are done in exchange of oxygen and mafia wants to control the supply of oxygen.
Aabi Martail Law: In this this story Akhtar has highlighted problem of shortage of water and how lives of people suffer due to this, this is a very touching story and one feels that the problem highlighted in the story is related to him/her.

Likewise 3017, Kaal and Gulfaroosh Jo Moot are also very interesting stories while two stories including Waryal Jo Vihaan and Waryal In Politics are comic stories written in light mode though they force readers to laugh but Akhtar has even highlighted issues of seriousness in light and comic way.

In my opinion Akhtar's stories reflect our lives, his characters are ordinary and are to be found everywhere around us, his language is delicate and he is well aware with the art of storytelling, according to me Akhtar is the bold and blunt voice of Modern Sindh fiction.