Tab Ki Baat Aur Thi

This is a collection of Parsais early works. It can be said that in his writings during this period, he was forging his own path in the field of language and honing his satire. However, it is surprising to see that his understanding of society and politics remained as clear even then. Stories like Sheep and Wolf, Cow-Bhakti, Dev-Bhakti, and Rasleela included in this collection warn us of the dangers of selfish misuse of religion. Questions like the struggle for employment and livelihood, the hypocrisy of the middle class, and womens freedom appear as strongly in these works as in his later works. However, to see these obstacles in the decade immediately following independence is an achievement in itself. The story Babu Ki Badli included in the collection created quite a stir in its time, and Parsai was even accused of supporting the enslavement of women, which he answers in the Apni Baat compiled here. Referring to the sharpness of his satire, he says that if someone strikes a rock-solid evil with a small goldsmiths hammer, it would be considered foolishness. Its good that he used the hammer from the beginning and that we have a satirist like him.