saadat hassan manto was born in paproudi village of samrala, in the ludhiana district of the punjab in a muslim family of barristers on 11 may 1912. his father was a judge of a local court. he was ethnically a kashmiri and proud of his kashmiri roots. in a letter to pandit nehru he suggested that being 'beautiful' was the second meaning of being 'kashmiri'.