Daily Times

Muhammad Daud Tahir is a retired civil servant who held various top positions during his long career. He served as member of Punjab Public Service Commission for many years also. During his service he got a chance to visit many countries and he scribbled notes about each place. His busy office routine kept him on his toes and he couldn’t re-read his notes but somehow the inner urge got better of him and he started writing down the story of his foreign visits with the help of notes.

Once he finished writing it, he got it published under the title ‘Shoq Humsafar Mera’ that covered his itineraries to USA, France and Germany.

It was published in 1995 from Lahore. He received generous praise from the readers and another travelogue of Iran and Turkey hit the shelves in 1998 titled ‘Safar Zindagi Hai’. Exploring the foreign lands, he travelled across the country and came up with a travelogue of grand trunk road-from Attock to Shahdara, Lahore. ‘Manzil Na Ker Qabool’ tries to focus on all the important historical places and personalities located across the G.T road. He also traversed through Lahore-Islamabad motorway and enlightened the readers about historical landmarks in another book ‘Nai Manzilein Hen Pukarti’ in 2005.

One book was followed by another as he travelled more into the length and breadth of Pakistan to make the readers realize about the wonderful heritage of the country. ‘Armughan-e-Multan’ tries to trace out the history and antiquity of the city of saints, Multan.

Muhammad Daud Tahir, aged 76, is still agile when it comes to writing. These days he is piecing together his memoirs and the first 25 years of his life have been captured in ‘Qaria-e-Javedan’. This is a voluminous tome in which the esteemed author goes back into the lanes of his memory.

Perhaps the old age makes you wander through those deserted lanes once again. Daud Tahir couldn’t resist the temptation and so he poured his nostalgia onto the paper. Born in a small town in Gurdaspur in 1944, his family had to left their ancestral home like millions of Muslims who opted for Pakistan in the wake of partition of subcontinent. He was hardly three years old when he along with his family moved out of their ancestral town and managed to reach Lahore safely. Here in Lahore they stayed in a small lodging near Mayo Hospital initially.

One book was followed by another as he travelled more into the length and breadth of Pakistan to make the readers realize about the wonderful heritage of the country. ‘Armughan-e-Multan’ tries to trace out the history and antiquity of the city of saints, Multan

They didn’t stay in Lahore or long as his father wanted to settle in Chenab Nagar near Chiniot.

The author tries to paint the tale of those days as vividly as he could. Times were hard as they had to make a fresh start but his family didn’t shy away from hard work. He studied in Taleemul Islam School which, in his estimation, was the best period of his life as he learnt, made friend and got influenced by the teachers, some of them he remembers to this day. He particularly remembers one of his teachers Ch Muhammad Ali who greatly impacted the young student to work tirelessly in order to achieve something big in life. Daud Tahir,s father had a literary inclination and had good collection of books in his library. He developed the habit of reading and writing from a young age as his articles would appear in the college magazine. He was a bright student and good grades helped him getting admission in the Punjab University, Lahore. After getting master’s degree with distinction, he started searching for a job. He got a few odd jobs initially and wasn’t satisfied. He decided to sit for competitive examinations and remained successful. He was allocated Income Tax department and thus started his bureaucratic career that spanned over three decades. Muhammad Daud Tahir has drawn graphic portrayal of his hometown Chenab Nagar, its residents, its lanes and its people-both prominent and common people. He has re-captured the glorious days of his institution, its dedicated teachers and also his class mates. He writes simple prose which comes naturally to him. ‘Qaria-e-Javedan’ sums up the initial years of his life and there is every reason that the author should also share the next phase of his life. It might be of great interest for all the readers as he held many important positions as a civil servant. ‘Qaria-e-Javedan’ is a testament of a common man who achieved success in life, authored ten books by the dint of hard work and natural flair of reading and writing.

The writer is a freelance journalist and can be reached at altafhussainasad@gmail.com