was published after his death in The Illustrated Weekly of India in June 1987.Mr. S.A. Rehman who worked with Abbas for more than twenty eight years as his secretary said that the title was initially different but was modified by the publishers.

The most famous of the stories of Abbas is “Sparrows” published initially in Urdu as Ababeel. “Sparrows”, written when Abbas was 26, was included in a West German anthology of the world’s best storiesThe story narrates the tale of a peasant boy Rahim Khan who has to suffer on account of the traditional and outdated notions of false pride in religion and family. He is not allowed to opt for the profession of his choice because “Job in a circus was too lowly for a respectable peasant”and to marry Radha, the daughter of the village Banya, a Kafir, was just out of question. This frustration hardens him into a cruel man who is beastly in his behaviour with his wife, his children and even the oxen. He gets transformed only when he observes the Sparrows in his house who are so caring and affectionate towards their young ones. Aradhika Sharma wrote a review of An Evening In Lucknow in the Tribune of Dec.4, 2011.In the review she commented on the story “Sparrows”:

“The Sparrows”, about which Mulk Raj Anand wrote, in January 1947, to Abbas, “the strength of your short stories, my dear, Abbas, lies in the fact that you have grasped the weaknesses of your characters amid their strengths”, is a moving tale of