Reader's Diary #930- Saadat Hasan Manto, translated by Aatish Taseer: The Dog of Ṭeṭvāl :

Look at those awesome accent marks in the title of Saadat Hasan Manto's "The Dog of Ṭeṭvāl." Yes, that's a line above the a, and better still, dots below each "T." I've never seen that before. How does that change the pronunciation, I wonder?

It's unfamiliar to me as the story is from a Pakistani author. Continuing on with short stories from around the world, I was able to find this one online at Granta.com.

It was neat to read because despite the different accents, and half the characters' surnames being "Singh," it reminded me of last year's visit to the Canadian battlefields in France. It was a very peaceful, forested area and it was hard to imagine that it could ever have hosted something as horrible as war. The opening scene in "The Dog of Ṭeṭvāl" could have the Canadians against the Germans, or the Newfoundlanders against the Germans, but in this case it's the Pakistanis against the Indians. Nature is going on as always but beneath the peaceful sky, people who have more in common than either side would like to admit, are waiting to kill one another.

It's sad that this is our common ground. Sadder when innocent people, or dogs, are caught in the middle.

A wonderfully written story, but a lot to handle for animal lovers.

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