Dr. Carlo Coppola, a widely published Urdu language scholar, recently wrote to request permission to reprint a story from Folio, a Forman magazine that is no longer published. As Dr. Coppola describes it, he is working on a new book tentatively titled Speaking Of/To/With & About South Asian Writers: Interviews, Essays and Reflections.
One of the authors featured in that forthcoming book is Krishan Chander, a prodigious writer in both Urdu and English who early in his literary career served as Assistant Editor for the Folio; in fact, his very first work in English was published in the Folio. It also seems that Krishan’s first published Urdu short story, entitled “Sadhu”, appeared in the Folio in 1932.
While the initial contact was made via English Department Chair Syeda Fatima, the e-mail conversation eventually also included Chief Librarian Farrukh Shahzad who was able to locate the Urdu sh short story in question, noting that it had also been republished in the Folio Centenary Edition covering the period 1864-1964 (November 1964). As Dr. Coppola describes it, this is indeed a “literary coup for the Folio and FC College”!
In fact, Dr. Coppola was even more effusive in his praise for the literary detective work undertaken by Forman, as the following extract from a more lengthy e-mail indicates:
What a discovery! My head is spinning all morning with this news. It is “A BIG DEAL”! And it should be shared widely . . .
First, of course, the story needs to be translated into English. This should be done under the auspices of both FCC’s Urdu and English departments.
I suggest that plans should be devised to arrange seminars, one in Urdu, one in English, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Krishan Chander’s passing in 2027, using the discovery of this story as a kind of “resurrection” of KC’s reputation as a writer in English, or simply the recognition of Krishan Chander’s reputation as world-class Urdu writer of fiction.
We all know that it is not too early to work on such seminars this far in advance. Both of these could be held on the campus of FCC, or the one in English could be held at the University of Wisconsin (https://southasiaconference.wisc.edu/) . . . or at the annual of the South Asian Literary Association (https://southasianliteraryassocation.org/) an affiliate of the Modern Language Association, the world’s largest literary association.
Additionally, I suggest that FCC undertake the publication of Krishan Chander’s essays and stories …There are enough entries to form a fine collection. This should be done as a complement to any seminar, or published independent of any seminar. That Reader should also contain some of his non-literary writing, much of which he did in English.
I have described this discovery as a mini-Rosetta Stone event. Hyperbole, of course, but appropriate to the occasion . . . Congrats to all.