Thanda Gosht (

ALA-LC ALA-LC (American Library AssociationLibrary of Congress) is a set of standards for romanization, the representation of text in other writing systems using the Latin script. Applications The system is used to represent bibliographic information by ...

: , English: ''Cold Flesh'') is a

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

written by

Saadat Hasan Manto Saadat Hasan Manto (; Punjabi, , , ; 11 May 1912 – 18 January 1955) was a Pakistani writer, playwright and author who was active in British India and later, after the 1947 partition of India, in Pakistan. Writing mainly in Urdu, he produc ...

. The book was first published in a literary magazine in March 1950 in

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. Later it was published by Sang-e-Meel Publications. Manto was charged with obscenity for this story and faced a trial in a criminal court.

Storyline

The story is about the communal violence of 1947. Ishwar Singh fails to make love to his mistress Kalwant. She suspects him of infidelity and in a fit of jealousy stabs him with his own dagger. While dying, Ishwar Singh admits his crime getting involved in riots which broke out in his village, killing a Muslim family with the same dagger and abducting a Muslim girl after breaking in their house and attempting to rape her, who was actually dead. Hence the title "cold flesh".

Adaptations

Mantostaan ''Mantostaan'' () is a 2017 Indian film directed by Rahhat Shah Kazmi. The film is based on the four short stories of the Urdu writer Saadat Hasan Manto - " Thanda Gosht", "Khol Do", "Assignment", and "Akhiri Salute". Cast * Raghubir Yadav as ...

'', a 2017 Indian film which adapted four short stories of Manto for the screen also included a segment based on "Thanda Ghosht". Other stories which were adapted included "Khol Do", "Assignment", and "Akhiri Salute". ''Manto'', a 2018 Indian biographical drama film about Saadat Hasan Manto's later life includes an adaptation of ''Thanda Gosht'' and the long-drawn court trials on obscenity which followed, their severe toll on his health and finances.

References

External links

Thanda Gosht
in English
Thanda Gosht ठंडा गोश्त
in Hindi
Thanda Gosht ٹھنڈا گوشت
in Urdu Pakistani short stories Pakistani fiction 1950 short stories Saadat Hasan Manto Sang-e-Meel Publications books Short stories adapted into films Obscenity controversies in literature Works subject to a lawsuit Controversies in Pakistan {{Pakistan-lit-stub