Indian sub-continent's progressive and creative Urdu writer. In the writing of Ismat Chughtai wit and humour reached new heights. She had a felicity with the language and was master of the colloquial phrase and of precision. She brought into the ambit of Urdu fiction the hitherto forbidden terrain of female sexuality. Ismat was tried in Lahore for her short story Lihaaf (Quilt) on a charge of obscenity. She wrote ten novels; only a handful has been received well. Her finest are 'Tedhi Lakeer'; 'Ziddi' and 'Ek Qatra Khoon'. Ismat Chughtai was blunt and forthright in her views and in her lifestyle. She passed away in Bombay and was cremated in accordance with her wishes.