Q. Sir, how do you feel coming to this literary extravaganza, to the celebration of the masters, Charles Dickens and Saadat Hasan Manto?
A. Fantastic! They are among the most widely read fiction writers of all times. What can one say, it is amazing to see so many young people taking an interest in their works, except that the future of the world is bright. We hold these images in our minds, and it influences what we do later in our lives. In fact, nothing can be better than a festival on Manto and Dickens.
Q. The event began with an introduction to both the masters by themselves, played by students. How did you find this idea of enactment?
A. Very nice. Obviously, it was not anything professional but I was really touched. It was more of a fancy dress than professional acting, portraying the masters just by putting on oval glasses or beard, or merely whitened air. Therefore, in a sense, one expects and rightly, it was a brilliant idea as it was produced out of minimal resources and it is exactly in situations like these that creativity comes to life. I think, it was an excellent introduction to Dickens' and Manto's life and it was a great idea to intersperse it with characters with whom the students are familiar, like those of Hard Times and Oliver Twist. And it held my interest right through.
Q. Do you think any other literary legend could have placed themselves in this league for celebration, or would have replaced Dickens or Manto?
A. I can see why Manto is here in the celebration of the birth centenaries, first of Manto and second of Dickens, The usual comparison is between Dickens and Premchand, though not necessarily a good comparison. But Manto and Dickens have some things that are significant. To be very honest regarding Manto's sensibility, it should be Dostovsky with whom he should be compared. That intensity, that imagination for disaster is way beyond Dickens. On the other hand, if you think of a festival, Dickens should be right next to Manto. That's what he was, a great entertainer, very amenable to dramatizations and adaptations. So, he has had a very long afterlife not in a novel. There are a few novelists that claim Dickens as a literary forefather but he has lived through the history of theatre and cinema. To that extent, it is a fantastic idea for a festival or a show around both of these legends.
Q. How would you rate us in our effort in creating the ambience for Manto and Dickens?
A. We Indians work with really few resources, we don't have the Victorian clothing, such beards, or the first editions of Dickens' novels or anything of the sort to come up with such acts, as would be in any university abroad. It is incredible to see not just enthusiasm but the look on people's faces, the interest which you are able to create with these resources. I am very moved and impressed.
Q. Being one of the renowned Dickensian scholars, how great a novelist is Dickens to you?
A. There are passages in his novels which are the greatest sections ever written in any novel, but he is certainly not and very far from being among the greatest novelist. I would't place any of his novels in my list of the first thirty or forty greatest novels ever written. But he is a novelist who has a greater impact on the history of popular entertainment than any other novelist of his times.
BA (Hons) Eng III
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