Daily Times

Keeping one’s passion alive and at the same time being sincere with one’s profession by carrying out the duties as a civil servant and that too as a bureaucrat is a feat accomplished by Zafar Mahmood.

After Taees Din which was written in 1997 when he was made OSD; a blessing in disguise, he wrote a short stories book Daairon Ke Darmeyan (In the middle of circles) during some other gaps in his jobs. Otherwise all the important assignments Zafar Mahmood diligently attended to had not given him time to follow his passion and write fiction based on his experiences and life around.

The harsh reality of how a maulvi of a mosque governs the lives of small townsfolk is depicted in a short story titled ‘Loud Speaker’. Here the designs of four friends enchanted by a girl Bano are thwarted by Sufi Fazal Karim, the Khateeb of a nearby mosque that is built on the donations of the inhabitants through the appeals made on loudspeakers and ends up marrying Bano, fleeing the village. He quietly sells the rights of the mosque to another contender.

The most interesting short story is ‘OSD’. This short story gives the plight of a bureaucrat Ibrar Ali, a blued eyed officer of previous government and is made OSD when the government is changed. A bureaucrat’s life is also full of revelations and surprises due to his posting in the urban as well as remote corners of rural areas. A fresh officer gets new responsibilities. He comes across many people in the corridors of power. In this journey a sensitive heart comes across many injustices prevalent in the society. He comes across criminal characters as well as religious personalities. Zafar Mahmood’s stories are woven around these characters.

His story ‘Rishwat’ (bribery) revolves around a man of ego, justice and straight forwardness.

One of the interesting stories is ‘Tilsmi Chadar’ (Magical sheet). It is about Chacha Umda who wakes up from a dream of witnessing hell. It is a story of all town folks who desire to maintain a balance by finding a middle way between good and bad. He decides to share his dream with Maulana Abdul Jabbar, whom he considers his mentor. Maulana is an orthodox and speaks against TV cable transmissions in his Friday prayers. He shows annoyance that Chacha, instead of making his son a Hafiz-e-Quran, is giving him education in an English medium school in the city.

Other stories ‘Lalukhait Ki Larki’, ‘Khabees’, Dosti Ka Safar’ and ‘Phapoondi’ also deal with ills of society.