Google celebrates Saadat Hasan Manto’s 108th birthday with doodle

"If you cannot bear these stories then the society is unbearable. Who am I to remove the clothes of this society, which itself is naked. I don't even try to cover it, because it is not my job, that's the job of dressmakers" – Saadat Hasan Manto

Pakistani writer, playwright and poet Saadat Hasan Manto is relevant and celebrated even today. Google paid homage to him on his 108th birthday with a doodle, designed by Lahore-based artist Shehzil Malik, for Google Doodle Pakistan.

Malik was struck by the French burkini ban in 2016. She launched Pakistan's first feminist fashion collection in October 2017. Her designs depict characters that push the boundaries of what it means to be a Pakistani woman. In a recent conversation with Google, where she shared her thoughts behind the making of the doodle, she revealed that she regards Manto as her hero.

 Known for his stories of Indian partition, Manto was a distressingly visionary and daring writer. His subjects tended to be those on the fringes of society. He was born into a middle-class Muslim family in the predominantly Sikh city of Ludhiana on May 11, 1912.

 He crafted powerful women as the central characters in his stories – be it the cannibalistic woman who hacks an innocent girl to death for ensnaring her lover or Mozail, a Jewish girl who sacrifices her life and modesty for a man she hardly cares about or Saugandhi, the sex worker who refuses to be victimised by the way men treat her and resorts to the company of her faithful dog instead.

Manto's male characters, on the contrary, are often exposed to their vulnerable and sensitive sides at crude and harsh backdrops, which constantly pressure them to adhere to toxic masculinity.

Manto wrote about communal hatred, the barbarism of the powerful and the struggles of the victims with its repercussions, inserting political reinforcements of humans, into his stories. The playwright, known for his controversial content, is a key figure in pop culture.

Sarmad Khoosat's film on him made waves in the Pakistani film industry. The movie was critically acclaimed and starred Khoosat in the titular role, as Manto.

Moreover, the Indian film, Manto (2018), loosely based on his life, won big at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. The film starred critically acclaimed actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui, and was helmed by award-winning director Nandita Das. Manto published 22 collections of short stories throughout his prolific career. He also wrote a novel, three collections of essays, over 100 radio plays, and more than 15 film scripts.