The Tailor

read ur piece. liked it. why not brush up more it would read well. if u r open i can be of help.

darzi is really a amazing story..........keep it up!!!
dr.shah murad mastoi...0333-2119602

godot,

``Labbaik`` and ``Qurrat al `Ayn`` are amongst my favourites...
How about having a go at one of them...or perhaps something by Yusufi (Zarsagisht?)?

epiphany Thanks for your comment. You need not apologize for your incorrections (the dictionary tells there’s no such word!). We all, me especially, make silly mistakes in writings. The discriminating Chowk readers know the mistakes and they overlook it. However, one’s essence never changes; and that’s what matters the most.

A while back, driving nonchalantly I hit a deer also (or rather he hit me) once. Your post brought back that memory!

Btw, I hope “dear” is not a Freudian-slip for you!

Naqshbandi Thanks for your kind words. I don’t know much about either Hijab or her husband. I haven’t read Ashfaq, but I do have his short stories in my Urdu collection. My only problem is which one to pick. As you can probably tell, I need to get into the story before I translate it. I have to read so many of them before I figure out which one attracts me enough to translate. Any recommendations? I look forward to your translation.

Godot sahib,
This was excellent and enjoyably different! You are a talented translator. Is this lady the wife of the famous Imtiaz Ali Taj of Anarkali fame? I have been contemplating translating some part of that play for Chowk for a while...

Look forward to more translations from you...

How about something from Ashfaq Ahmad marhoom?

Correction:

It was a deer that ran across the road not a dear. Pardon me for the spelling error.

Peace!

Subroto Thanks. The author wrote iss qisim kay paranday tau ashiai garam raataun mein cheekhtay hee rehtay hein

ana You know, I was never any good with English grammar. Even today, if you asked me, I won’t be able to dissect a sentence. Thanks for your friendly correction. I shall watch out for these in the future. Your corrections make me only better.

I am glad you liked the story. The author did really use UCH throughout the story. I translated exactly the way she wrote it. Sometimes reading a story can bring back so much memory. I am glad I was able to rekindle some of your good memories.

kaurasach I read this story about two years ago while looking to translate one for Chowk. Like you, I initially didn’t think of it much either. However, for some strange reason, it lingered on and stayed with me. As Farzana says, there’s something cryptic about it. Thanks for reading it.

Zahra Thanks, as always. I am not very familiar with Lahore, having visited it only a few times for very short durations to meet relatives. This story seems to have brought back pleasant memories for a few readers. It makes me happy. I am not much into haunted stories, Stephen King style. But I would look into some of the writers you mentioned. Before I read the story, I had no idea who Hijab Imtiaz Ali Taj was. Not only a good writer, but the first woman-pilot of the Subcontinent! And in her day and age! What an achievement and an honor! I was very impressed.

Farzana Thanks. I think it was her nostalgia. I haven’t forgotten. I’ll keep my promise. I’m sort of “observing” Ramzan. However, my biggest challenge is not translating a story, but finding one that I’d like to translate. That’s quite important to me. But as smart as you are, you probably have figured that out, anyway :)

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Nadia
mshergill
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Urstruly

Thank you guys for reading the translation and for your comments.

A Note to the Readers I believe Darzi originally appeared in a Islamabad Quarterly Adbiat in 1994. If the author was born in 1903, then she was 91 years old when this story was first published.

Godot,

This short story (or snippet), in analogy, is like a pleasant drive up mildly graded roads towards a summer resort. While driving, just as the comforting monotony of the journey begins to sink into oneself as a smooth constancy, a dear runs across the road nearing too close to being hit by the driver. It kind of sprinkles mental spice to the trip, perking it up a little.

The onslaught of the dear and the `darzi` have the same effect. Nevertheless, The Tailor is a candidly spooky fiction piece.

Peace!

#13 Zain:

[it appears that the tailor was the angel of death. so he came to take her life. then why did he need to stitch the body bag? thats not something the angels of death do. ]

True. That`s NOT what the angels of death do, but this angel was trying to respect the wishes of Shimmi. She was seeking a tailor who could stitch her Eid Dress. Now, this angel of death/ghost was trying to comply with her wishes since Shimmi was the one to approach him. Remember, he did not approach her. She approached him. She could have avoided talking to a weird stranger. Probably, he represented fate or destiny or something on those lines. He was roaming around near a hospital. Hospitals represent life and death and illness and cure. And, probably, the women represented innocent and unprepared human beings. Probably, the angel of death was not able to find anyone at the hospital therefore he was roaming around. My two cents.

Nicely done. Once again

no wah-wahs from here, except that it was an easy read.

i was unable to relate to the fear factor. in fact i kept wondering why is the hooting owl scaring someone on a night-prowl in a busy ramad/zan night? and then why does a bodybag need measurement. is it common for two women to go to a darzi to get kafan? i would think its a mans job. does one wait 24 hours for burial?

there is one thing i did not get in this nicely written (and translated) story: it appears that the tailor was the angel of death. so he came to take her life. then why did he need to stitch the body bag? thats not something the angels of death do.

or perhaps i am missing some deeper aspect of this fine piece of literature.

Nicely translated!! Just a bit late for Halloween:)

It was a bit freaky.
You did a wonderful job translating it.

Kind regards.

Very well translated.

Thank you for sharing.

Nice enjoyable story :)

Godot:
this was an amazing story..it reminds me of Poe`s writing..he wrote with similar fluidity and his stories too are scary. Awesome translation!
cheerios,
famu

godot:

Liked the story, and your translation had just the right cryptic touches. Subroto does ask the right question, though I do not think the writer would have talked about ``Lahore/Pakistan ki garam raatein`` unless the characters were Pakistanis of the diaspora getting nostalgic:)

But if it was used, then I think ``hot Asian nights`` sounds better; no LoC ka sawaal here...

PS: Hope you remember your promise...assuming you are observing Ramazan, you may take your time!

This Shimmi remindes me Shimmi of Rajinder Singh Bedis...Came here to find here if any...
Was it Purana Coat or Overcoat...

Anyways Enjoyed reading it...and Knowing about Mrs. Imtiaz Ali Taj...

Cheers,

Dear Godot,

You have done a wonderful job here. Over the years you have given us many great translations - this is one of your best. Thanks.

Go.

This was hilarious and sweet. If I am not mistaken, Hijab`s father was a literary figure as well. I like her writings. The emphasis on Eid Kee Taayaaria`n was quite entertaining.

Very interesting story. This kind of story can be read in one go without waiting for the weekend :)

By the way, UCH (United Christian Hospital) has indeed haunted surroundings. I still remember as a 5 year old, my little sister`s amud and the late night drives back and forth between the hospital and my grand-parents` place. I always thought that some ghosts were roaming around near that hospital or were hiding in the garb of human beings. As a result, I was always extra alert. I still do not like the vicinity of UCH(my own birth place) despite having many childhood memories with that place. Since you like drama, action-thriller, suspense kind of stories therefore you must find another Urdu Writer who wrote about GOR-II also known as, Bahawalpur House, Lahore. That was another part of Lahore which was famous for ghosts and churails walking around in broad day light with no dur or khauf. Well, many were found in very eastern and traditional garbs. According to an old myth, those churails were sent to earth with a special mission :) I am sorry but I have forgotten the details of that myth.

I think one of the following writers had written some interesting stories about the churails and ghosts of GOR II - Ashfaq Ahmed, Bano Qudsia, the Pressure Cooker Guy(Sadeeq Salik) or Shafique-ur-Rahman. Do look into it.

Take Care.

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Nicely done. Thanks for introducing us to a different writer this time.
Only one thing did the writer really say ``hot Asian nights``? Not Lahori or Pakistani?

godot,

what a story! and i really enjoyed this translation. there was only one place where it really jarred for me, and it was here: ``next day arrived and ended and the night started to fall.

you are getting better at not using ``the`` where it really isn`t needed in translation, but i think ``next day arrived and ended and night started to fall`` makes it flow much easier.

did the writer use just the acronym UCH throughout the story, and is ``christian hospital`` your addition for clarification? the reason i ask is because there was another hospital that was actually called christian hospital, and UCH was united christian hospital. i lived in the UCH compound for years in one of the houses built for doctors, and i don`t know the exact date of this story but i clearly remember the chain link gate. reading it here made the memory quite vivid for me.

nice work!