Introduction

Back in 2019, one of the editors of this collection, Carina Jahani, and her co-worker in the Balochi Language Project, Sajid Hussain, began planning an anthology of Balochi short stories. The two of us wanted to provide Baloch readers with a selection of short stories by renowned authors.

At the same time we wanted to produce a course book for students of Balochi at Uppsala University, in which the Balochi text of each story would be accompanied by an English translation, in order to aid the students with their coursework. Needless to say, we also planned to edit the stories somewhat to follow the standard Balochi grammar and orthography presented in A Grammar of Modern Standard Balochi.¹

However, on the second of March, 2020, tragedy struck. Sajid Hussain went missing and after almost eight weeks, on the twenty-third of April, our fears were confirmed. The police informed us that Sajid had been found dead in the Fyris River, just north of Uppsala. His friends and co-workers in the Balochi Language Project² were deeply shaken, and it took a long time for us to regain the strength we needed to resume working productively again.

But as we gradually composed ourselves, we decided that we must honour Sajid's memory by editing the book he so eagerly had wanted to edit himself. Carina Jahani and Taj Baloch started the editorial work, and later on Nagoman Baloch also joined in. There was no question that the book should be dedicated to our late son, brother, and co-worker Sajid Hussain, and that his own story, Facing Exile, Facing Taunts, would be included in the volume.

One of the themes of the stories was thus already clear at the outset. We would include a number of stories written in exile. The other two themes, Human Relations and Man and his Environment, emerged as we compiled the stories, all which have been published previously in books, magazines or online, albeit in most cases using non-standard language and orthography. Some of the English translations have been published previously, but we have also edited these to some extent.

Indeed, the English translations would not have attained the level they now have had it not been for our co-worker on this editorial project, Everett Thiele, whose input went far beyond just correcting English grammar and usage. Without his assistance, the translators, all nonnative speakers of English, would not have been able to make the experience of reading the stories in English a literary experience, something that we aimed for. We hope that one day there will be native speakers of English who are so proficient in Balochi that they can translate literary pieces from Balochi into their mother tongue.

In addition to the Balochi texts of the stories, presented in both in Latin and Arabic script, and the English translations, we have also included introductions to the life and literary production of all the authors of the stories. The editors and translators are also introduced, though more briefly than the authors. All of the author biographies were written by the editors of this book unless otherwise stated. As of yet, there is no comprehensive work on modern Balochi literature, and until such a work is written, the author biographies in this volume can serve to provide basic information about a number of the most active Baloch short story writers. Most of them are still active, but some have put down the pen for good, and in the case of Sajid Hussain, far too early.

The book consists of four parts. The first three use left-to-right script, and the fourth uses right-to-left.

Part 1. Introductory matters in English;

Part 2. Author biographies and English translations of the stories;

Part 3. The stories in Balochi Latin script;

Part 4. The stories in Balochi Arabic script.

As mentioned above, the stories are arranged according to three themes, Human Relations, Man and his Environment, and Exile. There are ten stories under the first heading, seven under the second, and four under the third. In the first two sections, the stories are arranged alphabetically by the authors' last names. The third section is also arranged alphabetically, with one exception. Because Noroz Hayat's story to a certain degree draws upon Sajid Hussain's story, it is placed second in the section, after Sajid's story, although alphabetically it would come first. There is a substantial amount of thematic overlap, particularly between the first two sections, and, of course, human relations are also an important ingredient in the stories written in exile.

The section titled Human Relations is largely coloured by social issues in the society where the stories were written. Some of the stories, however, deal with human feelings more generally.

The first story, Bot (The Statues), addresses the topic of power and oppression. Contrary to many other stories in this collection, it is not set in Balochistan, but deals with power relations in a more general sense, in particular the relation between a superior and a subordinate.

The second story, Syahkár (The Adulterer), on the other hand, brings up the taboo topic of illicit affairs in a local Baloch context.

The next story, Nákó (Uncle), depicts a culturally more accepted, but often still heart-breaking issue in Baloch society, namely marriage between elderly men and much younger women. In this story a young lover is left deprived of his beloved, who chooses to marry his wealthy uncle instead.

Peti Mirás (Patrimony), depicts old age and destitution in a situation where a mother has been deprived of her sons in different ways, something which, unfortunately, is not uncommon in Balochistan.

The story Gárén Kaldár (The Lost Coin) again treats the theme of loneliness, but also that of love and affection. Unlike most of the other stories in this volume, this story ends on a positive note.

The following story, Santh (The Barren Woman), addresses the issue of childlessness and how a childless wife is often despised by her family. It also deals with the place of women in a patriarchal tribal society more broadly.

The theme of Jehád (Jihad) is religious persecution of the Zigri religious minority by the Sunni Muslims who constitute the religious majority, a critical issue in Baloch society and a common theme in Balochi short stories.

The story that follows, Garmén Sáheg (The Scorching Shade), again treats the theme of a poor lover whose beloved has been married off to a rich suitor.

In Rawt Ráh o Rawt Shap (Endless Road, Endless Night) the theme is fear, and fear of death in particular. The issue of illicit affairs is also touched upon.

In the final story in this section, Bibi Maryam o Préshtag (Mother Mary and the Angel), the protagonist struggles with illness and being misunderstood by the people around him, but still manages to show love and concern for a fellow human being in need.

The section titled Man and his Environment deals with the relationship between human beings and the environment around them, but also to a certain degree with relationships between people.

The first story, Pisshi o Pirokó (The Cat and the Old Man), treats the theme of fidelity and concern for others, at the same time as it demonstrates deep insight into the behaviour of cats.

In the story Karkénk (Oyster Shells), we meet a well-educated young man who has to resort to gathering oyster shells for a living. What then follows is an account of how the vulnerable and powerless are mistreated by greedy and violent authorities.

In Hasan Sól (Hasan Sol), we again encounter the theme of childlessness, this time in a way that is somewhat similar to how this issue is dealt with in Balochi folktales, namely with a magical remedy for the problem. But the remedy comes at a cost, and the price is high.

The story Taw Mahnáza Nabay (Not as Chaste as Mahnaz) has a dog as its main character but revolves around the issues of chastity and the human need for love, though in disguised words.

In Bahesht (Paradise), we meet two runaway pigeons searching for their paradise. Again, the author uses non-human characters to depict human relationships and their complications. Contrary to the other stories in this section, both this and the previous story end on a positive note.

The story Talk (The Bird-trap) addresses the common human feelings of shame and guilt, though in a local setting. The main character, a bird-trap, tells its dramatic life-story from the top of a tree, where it is now hanging.

The final piece in this section, Dorbáni (Dorbani), tells the story of a young girl in the Baloch nomadic community who has to cope with the hardships of nature and three untimely deaths.

The final section, Exile, contains four stories, all written by authors living in exile. Recurring themes are longing for the motherland, loneliness, the hardships of exile, feelings of guilt and shame, and survival strategies.

The first story in this section, Darándhéhi pa Saré o Shegán pa Saré (Facing Exile, Facing Taunts), is partly autobiographical and deals with the pressure of having to learn to live in totally new surroundings and the inner struggle that a Baloch in exile may face.

The second story, Haw Máti, Tai Bacch Kóhestáná ent (Yes, Dear Mother, Your Son is Back in the Mountains) is partly based on the previous story. Here the protagonist makes a drastic decision when his longing for the homeland gets the upper hand.

Contrary to most of the other stories in the collection, the third story,Gawlok o Mollá Charsiay Táit (The Spoilt Brat and Mullah Weed-head's Amulet), exhibits a large amount of humour and satire when telling the story of a young man who has made his way to Europe without really knowing why.

The final story, Dega Kass Nést (There Is No One Else), which also contains many autobiographical elements, depicts two strong feelings: loneliness and longing for one's loved ones. The story also shows how quickly human beings can forget each other.

As already mentioned, the stories have been edited to correspond to the grammatical and orthographic standards adopted by the Balochi Language Project. These are the same standards that are used in the web-based Balochi magazine Balochistan Times and, at least to a certain extent, in the magazine Braanz, run by The Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization,³ as well as in Balochi courses offered at Uppsala University. These standards have been presented in Carina Jahani's book A Grammar of Modern Standard Balochi (for biographical information, see footnote 1). The names of the authors in the Balochi texts also follow this standard, but in the English translations names are spelled as the authors and translators themselves have spelled them in their publications and/or on social media. Proper names in the translations of the stories are furthermore written without the letters á, é and ó, which are part of the Balochi Latin script but do not belong to the English alphabet.

When it comes to Balochi proper names, it is often hard to determine what should be considered the given name and what can be taken as the surname. In this book the final name has been used as the "surname" in bibliographic information, i.e. when referring to works authored by the person. However, in the authors' introductions names are used and shortened according to Balochi conventions. This means that, e.g., the name Sayad Hashmi is found under "Hashmi" in bibliographical entries, but it is shortened to Sayad in running text whenever appropriate. The name A. R. Dad, on the other, hand is both shortened to Dad and found under "Dad" in bibliographical entries. The name Ghaws Bahar is not easily shortened, and therefore it is not shortened in the introduction of this author, although it is found under "Bahar" in bibliographical entries.

At the request of the author, the dialogues in the story Dega Kass Nést (There Is No One Else) do not conform to the written standard language. Instead they reflect the dialect of the speakers in the story.

Altogether there are 21 stories in the book. The original plan was to include 20 stories, but after we had collected and edited all the stories and translations, we realized there was one author who we absolutely did not want to leave out, namely Sayad Hashmi. When we added a piece by him, we ended up with a non-even number of stories. Of course we could have saved one story for a later publication, but in the end we decided to publish all 21 stories – one to read each day for three weeks.

We hope you will enjoy your reading and that it will deepen your understanding of life in general and of the struggles that the Baloch face in particular, be they in Balochistan or in exile.

Sweden and United Kingdom, 14 February 2022
Carina Jahani, Nagoman Baloch and Taj Baloch