Guest article by Nandita Das: Manto’s India... present, continuous, tense

In 2008, after I made Firaaq, my first film, I wanted to write about the experience of making the film. That book still remains in my head, though the memories are getting foggier with time. Ten years later, as I finished making Manto, I wanted to make sure that my journey did not fade away. There were many stories hidden behind the six years of research and writing, and the making of the film. While I had shared some of them with close friends and family, and others through interviews and public conversations, there was still more to tell. The book is a stream of consciousness where my creative, emotional, socio-political, and spiritual experiences are all organically intertwined. I decided to call this deeply personal journey, Manto & I.