Ismat Chughtai (August 1915 – 24 October 1991)¹ was an eminent Urdu

Urdu

Urdu is a register of the Hindustani language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an...

 writer, known for her indomitable spirit and a fierce feminist ideology. She was considered the grand dame of Urdu fiction, as one of the four pillars of modern Urdu short story, the other three being Saadat Hasan Manto

Saadat Hasan Manto

Saadat Hassan Manto was a short story writer of the Urdu language. He is best known for his short stories, 'Bu' , 'Khol Do' , 'Thanda Gosht' , and his magnum opus, 'Toba Tek Singh'....

, Krishan Chander

Krishan Chander

Krishan Chander was an Urdu and Hindi Afsaana Nigaar, or short story writer. He wrote mainly in Urdu, but was well-versed in Hindi and English....

, and Rajinder Singh Bedi

Rajinder Singh Bedi

Rajinder Singh Bedi was an eminent progressive Urdu writer, playwright and a Hindi film director, screenwriter and noted dialogue writer....

. Her outspoken and controversial style of writing made her the passionate voice for the unheard, and she has become an inspiration for the younger generation of writers, readers and intellectuals.
She was born in Badayun, Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...

 and grew up largely in Jodhpur

Jodhpur

Jodhpur , is the second largest city in the Indian state of Rajasthan. It is located west from the state capital, Jaipur and from the city of Ajmer. It was formerly the seat of a princely state of the same name, the capital of the kingdom known as Marwar...

 where her father was a civil servant.