Daily Times

The quarterly literary journal Ista’ara was revived a couple of years ago through the efforts of Dr Amjad Tufail and Riaz Ahmad.

Its fifth issue for the period October-December 2018 has just been published for the treat of literature lovers. The editorial claims that the editors received full cooperation of all the Urdu loving people affiliated with literature. It also states that new quality writers have been included in the issue under review.

A series of interviews with intellectuals has been appreciated in its previous issues, informs editorial. So the tradition is continued and the present magazine includes one of Asad Muhammad Khan, poet, short story and drama writer. The interviewers are Dr. Amjad Tufail, Riaz Ahmad and Aqeel Akhtar. Asad’s father was a good painter. Asad explained the culture of states in pre-partition India with reference to Rampur and Bhopal. Sardar Dost Muhammad Khan belonged to his tribe, so Asad knew him better. He worked for Nawab of Hyderabad Deccan. In 1827, at the fall of Mughal Rule, he declared a State on his lands. On Asad’s subsequent visits to Aligarh, he was handed over the work carried out by Sultan Jehan Begum, and Shah Jehan by Qazi Afzaal Hussain. Asad has started writing a novel ‘Khanum’; he does not know when he would complete it. Asad disclosed that he desired to re-do his drama serials telecast from television in a book form. He has also written some prose poems, Geets and short stories. This reviewer recalls his popular song ‘Tum Sung Nainan Lage’ by Rubina Badar from Karachi television in 1970s.

The other interview in Ista’ara 5 is that of writer Saul Bellow by Gordon Lloyd Harper. The translation is done by Mubeen Mirza. Saul Bellow was born in Lachine, Quebec, a suburb of Montreal, in 1915. He was raised in Chicago where he attended the University of Chicago, and received his Bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University in 1937, with honours in sociology and anthropology. He did graduate work at the University of Wisconsin. Saul Bellow’s first novel, ‘Dangling Man’, was published in 1944, and his second, ‘The Victim’ in 1947. In 1948 he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship, went to Paris where he began writing ‘The Adventures of Augie March’, which won the National Book Award for fiction in 1954. Later books include Seize the Day, Henderson the Rain King (1959), Herzog (1964), Mosby’s Memoirs and Other Stories (1968), and Mr. Sammler’s Planet (1970). His most recent work of fiction, Humboldt’s Gift (1975), was awarded the Pulitzer Prize. Both Herzog and Mr. Sammler’s Planet were awarded the National Book Award for fiction. In 1965 Bellow was awarded the International Literary Prize for Herzog, becoming the first American to receive the prize. In January 1968 the Republic of France awarded him the Croix de Chevalier des Arts et Lettres, the highest literary distinction awarded by that nation to non-citizens.He was a playwright as well as a novelist, Saul Bellow is the author of The Last Analysis and of three short plays, collectively entitled Under the Weather, which were produced on Broadway in 1966. In the interview, he offers his opinion on novelist and playwright Honore de Balzac, who according to Bellow, touches the depth of sentiments through his characters, leading towards a touch of realism. He stated that he was impressed with British novelist David Herbert Lawrence, poet Yeats and American poet Hart Crane. In his book Augie March, Saul Bellow got rid of the restrictions he had imposed on him as were put in his first two novels.

The other interview in Ista’ara 5 is that of writer Saul Bellow by Gordon Lloyd Harper. The translation is done by Mubeen Mirza. Saul Bellow was born in Lachine, Quebec, a suburb of Montreal, in 1915. He was raised in Chicago where he attended the University of Chicago, and received his Bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University in 1937, with honours in sociology and anthropology

The editors had mentioned that new entrants had been encouraged on this issue of Ista’ara 5 in the field of literature. Aasar Ajmal is the lucky one who has contributed three short stories in this journal. The first story ‘Musalman’ is a satire on the students’ organisations who misuse the slogan of religion for their nefarious designs. Arshad and Ajmal are two friends; one passing remarks on Najma and the other criticizing her sleeveless dress while she crosses their path on way home. Arshad is also skeptical about Ajmal’s being member of students’ religious organization. One day Ajmal reveals to Arshad that some members of their group had decided to take action against the girls who used sleeveless dress and did not use hijab. The next day they watch a jeep stopping and abducting Najma. Luckily Ajmal recognises the jeep to be that of his Khalifa. They rush to the hostel where they find Najma half nude about to be raped. She was complaining that Khalifa was after her since many days to make her his girlfriend. Over his dead body, says Ajmal and shoots Khalifa. This story exposes double standards of some of the members of religious organizations defaming the noble cause of such organizations. Two other short stories Comrade and October Ki Aik Raat are included in this section written by Aasar Ajmal. Ten ghazals by Saeed Ahmad form contents of the next section titled ‘Tazakaro Pukhtakaar’.

Short stories by Nirmal Verma/Muhammad Abbas, Rasheed Amjad, Mahmood Ahmad Qazi, M. Babar Riaz, and Amjad Tufail form contents of a separate section. Nirmal’s short story has very aptly been translated from Hindi to Urdu by Muhammad Abbas. The story titled “Andhere Main’ (in dark) is based in Shimla where Bichi, the son has been brought for convalescence. His mother is a beautiful lady and even in the emotional moments she remains aloof with her child, not fully expressing her love. At least that is how Bichi feels. Bano, a neighbour looks after him while he is fighting fever. She is not interested when he would go to Dilli. Babu, his father also remains distant at times. Beeran Chacha lives in a cottage close by. When Bichi drifts to his cottage to say him goodbye when the family was departing for Dilli, Beeran Chacha hands him over a book for his mother, which much later in the years is discovered as love letters, when his mother was no more and Beeran Chacha had moved to Italy since long. The story is full of unexpressed sentiments by its characters, a reason that each one of them felt lonely at times.

There are separate sections for ghazals, nazms and essays. Khawaja Muhammad Zakariya writes on Wazir Agha, Qazi Javed on Shah Hussain, Amjad Ali Shahir on Urdu language, Tariq Mahmood Hashmi on Hameeda Shaheen, Azhar Hussain on Hyderabad’s story of its last rule and finally Aqeel Akhtar on Yasmeen Hameed. This reviewer’s impressions on singer Nahid Niazi as a cultured voice form the content of a corner on music. Nahid’s entry into film playback singing was due to great music composer Khwaja Khurshid Anwar who was not satisfied with the available singers in Pakistan (barring Nurjehan) after his return from Indian music industry. He desired Nurjehan to sing songs for his film ‘Zeher-e-Ishq’ but Madam wanted also to act as the heroine of the film also. This role was originally envisaged for Musarrat Nazir by Khwaja Saheb. He had no option but to look for another background voice. He tried Iqbal Bano for his song ‘Mohe Piya Milan Ko Jane Dei Bairaniya’ but the impact was not up to his expectations. The second choice was that of Geeta Dutt who had rendered songs for Khwaja Saheb’s movies ‘Nishana’ and ‘Neelum Pari’ in India. Geeta readily accepted this invitation but for some film magazines making hue and cry on this issue (unlike today when our singers and actors perform in India and some Indians come to Pakistan for our films), the idea for her singing Khwaja Saheb’s songs was dropped. Khwaja Saheb did not lose heart and decided to try a new voice. He considered training Nahid Niazi for these songs (as the luck would have it, her voice sounded close to Geeta Dutt’s voice). Also Sajjad Sarwer Niazi, Nahid’s father was a close friend of Khwaja Saheb. After considerable number of rehearsals the song was born in the voice of Nahid Niazi. The song was an instant hit and is considered as Nahid Niazi’s identity.

Apart from translations of writer and activist Maxim Gorky’s works by Furqan Ali Khan and humour by Ashfaq Ahmad Virk, the corner on Mukhtar Masood is wholesome, describing his literary works with special reference to his book Awaz-e-Dost.

The writer is the recipient of the prestigious Pride of Performance award. He can be reached at doc_amjad@hotmail.com