Charged with obscenity multiple times, Manto defended his art with characteristic boldness, declaring that if society found his stories obscene, it was society that was sick, not his pen. His finest work — such as Toba Tek Singh, Thanda Gosht, Khol Do, and Bu — continues to shape the moral and literary imagination of Urdu fiction. This selection of twenty stories offers a glimpse into the fierce clarity and human complexity that define Manto’s enduring legacy.