Daily Times

“Journalism was introduced by British when they brought Printing Press in India although it was Chinese who had first introduced Printing Press through wooden blocks in the world.

In the subcontinent, British brought Printing Press in Bengal where the Bengalis started writing and printing stories and novels due to the availability of printing facilities. In Punjab this system came a hundred years later. British encouraged the national language as Hindustani or in other words Urdu, rather than Punjabi. The British government started first Urdu newspaper Koh-e-Noor in 1849 and allowed other papers of which half would be purchased by the government and distributed in government offices. Regarding Punjabi, it was divided in two scripts; gurmukhi and shahmukhi. Sikhs had started writing and publishing in gurmukhi after 1857 war of independence, much earlier than Muslims did in northern India and Punjab in Shahmukhi. The first Punjabi monthly magazine got started in Lyallpur in 1923 namely “Punjabi Darbar”. These are the introductory remarks in a video lecture by Jameel Ahmad Paul, an established Urdu and Punjabi writer, translator, journalist and an orator.

Birth & early education:

Jameel Paul has Masters with Distinctions in Punjabi and Urdu as well as Masters in Political Science from Punjab University, Lahore. He has been teaching to FA, BA and MA classes for the past three decades and is an external examiner for Masters, MPhil and PhD dissertations as well. His doctoral dissertation was on the services of famous Punjabi poet Shareef Kunjahi. Jameel Ahmad Paul was born on 21st March, 1958, in Lalamusa, District, Gujrat. He spent most of his life in Lahore though he had received some of his education in Dhaka, East Pakistan and in Peshawar. After completing matriculation in 1974 and intermediate in 1976, he entered into practical life. Jameel started his writing career after passing his matriculation examination as a poet like any other young man of those times did but gradually moved to prose writing especially in the domains of short story writing and criticism. Being an active worker of Punjabi language and literature, he worked in many other fields also.

During his job in Pakistan Railways, Jameel passed Graduation and Master’s degree in First Division as a private candidate. He commenced his career as Lecturer in Punjabi from Government College Sahiwal and Government Islamia College Gujranwala. He joined Government F. C. College Lahore in 1994. Later he worked at Government Shalimar College Lahore from 1999 till his retirement in August 2018 as a Professor in Grade 20.

Jameel Ahmad Paul has spent the latter half of his Career in serving Punjabi language and literature only. He devoted his life for the Punjabi language and is still fighting for its rights even at the age of 62. His plus point is journalism where he started his career as being sub-editor of Punjabi Journal ‘Lehran’ for a decade. Using this experience he started his own Punjabi journals ‘Rvel’ and ‘Sver International’’. He was the only journalist who was associated with all four Pakistani Punjabi newspapers at different spans of time. Sajjan started its publication 1989, Bhulekha followed in 1997, Khabraan in 2003 and Lokai in 2011. He worked as an in-charge of editorial page and was a column writer simultaneously. Newspaper ‘Lokai’ is his own publication. He has also edited Punjabi periodicals He also publishes books from his publishing house namely ‘Punjab Markaz’. This publishing house has published more than 150 books in related fields till date. His plus point is knowledge of both gurmukhi and shamukhi scripts thereby making his access easier for the literature of both sides of Punjab. He is also conversant with Hindi language.

Published books of Jameel Ahmad Paul are 26 in number in Punjabi, Urdu, Gurmukhi and Hindi. These are:

3 short story collections, one short story translation, one short story compilation, one novel, one translation and one transcription, 2 travelogue of England and Canada, one book on journalism, one on Punjabi script plus some others. 4 books in Urdu, one translation from Hindi, one from Gurmukhi, two from Punjabi.

Jameel Ahmad’s translated works are his novel “Azab Din Azab Rataan” which was translated into Hindi and Gurmukhi. Two short story collections published in Gurmukhi. One travelogue also published in Gurmukhi, novelette, travelogue remained part of curriculum at graduate level in GCU Faisalabad and LCWU Lahore.?

We shall discuss one travelogue as a specimen.

One of the popular travelogues of Jameel is ‘London Lahore Warga Aei’ in which he discovers that London has similarities with Lahore during his two weeks stay there. He had gone there to attend International Punjabi Conference from May 17 to 19, 2002 which gave him an excuse to travel to seven or eight cities of UK. On return he published his travelogue in eight installments in his journal Sver in its July issue. Jameel says he received many comments. One comment was harsh that one cannot compare the two cities, one that had umbrella of Data Saheb and the other, a den of prostitution. Jameel didn’t argue on the matter of belief. The other comment was objection to his visit to sex shop and mentioning of inflation; Jameel replied that he hadn’t been there for Hajj. Shareef Kunjahi recommended that this travelogue should be published in a book form. Jameel therefore published this book on June 21, 2003.

The first page mentions of visit of Jameel’s younger brother Ijaz Ahmad Jozi when there was load shedding for four hours at his place. So they started using newspaper as hand fan when Jozi read the title of the travelogue in Sver’s issue that London was like Lahore. He objected that how can Lahore be like London as we had flies in the house and heaps of garbage on the roads etc. Jameel responded that if we see our areas like Gulberg, DHA, Bahria Town we were in no way inferior in cleanliness and infrastructure. This debate reminds me of my stay in Birmingham for my PhD at the University. The racism and propaganda against Pakistan was very strong even then. So I took photograph of an empty plot full of heaps of garbage dumped there and sent it to my friends. So basically it is the hygiene of the people that a city becomes clean or otherwise.

One of the major works by Jameel Ahmad Paul is in the domain of translations. He has spent lifetime in translating stories of all languages and countries, his second love being stories, the first love being his mother tongue and the third being his love for flowers and nature. His book ‘Globe Kahani’ is a gigantic piece of work in this domain of literature as he feels that the national and international literature needs to be offered to Punjabi lovers. He desired 101 stories to be included in his book but had to be content with 80. Many long stories had to be excluded half-heartedly due to quantum of the book published by Masud Khaddarposh Trust. He dedicated the book to Allah Mian, the greatest story writer. He included translations of stories in various sections; ‘Aal Dual’, Subcontinent, Islamic Block, Far East, Russian Block, Europe, America, and Latin America.

The first story is translation of Balochi story of Gohar Malik titled ‘Tei Baloch Nei Menu Dhika Ditta’. It is about an elderly lady Maasi bombarding the Balochi driver with questions while passing through the Chaghi area. The hills were dry and stony. Driver told her that it was due to the atom bomb blast. Then she saw all sorts of trees full of fruits and green land. The driver told that it was because his leaders brought the seeds from Islamabad barring the local growth of dry fruit ingredients. Then it was also due to atomic blast, driver contended. Maasi desired to see the famous city Kaich. Driver told her of train service of Makran Coast now. Maasi wished that the old leaders were alive to see the development by the present leaders. Driver said it is good that they were no more. They used to languish in A Class jails. He took Maasi to a dilapidated house of a leader. This leader, according to the Baloch driver, called all Balochis, his children. Maasi posed a question if the driver considered him as the son of that leader, he answered why he should be. The leader had declared Balochis as arrows, poison, fire, and what not. Maasi took her feet out and told the driver to drop her there. When asked she said it was her house. As a reaction he pushed her out and she fell in mud outside. It was here that Maasi woke from a sweet and bitter dream. Jameel’s selection and translation of this satirical story is commendable. The other stories in the first section are Kach Dei Tote – Puchto, Poori Kahani – Puchto, Loi – Sindhi and Aapnian Tau Vichirya Panchi.

The selection of the stories from the subcontinent are Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi’s Waddi Sarkar Dei Naan, Qurratul Ain Haider’s photographer, Rajinder Singh Bedi’s Rehman Da Safar, Balwant Singh’s Madawa, Ghulam Abbas’s Kun Ras, Afra Bukhari’s NaMehram, Suraj Munim’s Mitti Da Khameer, Nirmal Verma’s Pichlian Garmian Vich, Ram Kumar’s Cherry Dei Rukh, one Assam’s story, two stories in Uriya, four in Bengali, two in Tamil, two in Telgu, two in Gujrati, one in Marathi, two in Malayalam and one in Kashmiri language.

We shall discuss the translation of Ghulam Abbas’s story ‘Kun Rus’ which means a person who has an ear for music. It is a story of a young man Fayyaz who is born and raised in an orthodox religious family. He is attracted to a melodious song whenever and where ever he hears it. In school he quenches his thirst for music by reciting Naats, Hamds in school’s music or literary societies. Seeing his inclination towards music his father marries him such that responsibilities take off his mind from music. His father succeeds to some extent and Fayyaz works hard in his office and becomes head clerk with a salary of Rs. 150/-, a handsome sum in those days. He is father of two daughters now. He returns late from his office and his family is used to his late return. One night on his return he comes across a beggar playing an instrument on side path. He is mesmerized by the sound. The beggar turns out to be a professional musician playing Sarod. Fayyaz invites him to his hose for food. The musician takes advantage for Fayyaz’s love for Sarod and starts living in his hose as his tutor. Fayyaz makes a new dress for him. One fine day the beggar who turns out to is Haidri Khan brought another friend Kaka Parshad, a Karthak dance master for teaching dance to Fayyaz’s daughters Najma and Saleema on the lea that even in Muslim families dance and music was taught to girls. Fayyaz’s wife Asghari did not like the idea for Fayyaz’s weakness. Gradually the neighbourhood, the Maulvi and even the owner of the rented house where Fayyaz lived asked the family to vacate. Haidri said it was no problem and he would find them a hose in the city. When the family moves to the city, they find that the flat with the balcony was in Red Light Area! This story is well translated by Jameel and brings out ills of music if misused and not as a form of knowledge. It is a good selection by Jameel for translation in Punjabi.

The stories of Islamic Block comprise three Arabic stories, three Persian, two Turkish ones. Stories selected for translation from East and Far East comprises three Chinese, two Japanese and one Singapore story. Stories translated in Russian Block are from Russia, Armenia, Bulgaria, Tajikistan, Polish and Hungary. The Europe and American Block translates stories from English, French, Spanish, languages.

Apart from short stories collection ‘Iklape Da Jungle’ published in Gurmukhi by Kalm Language Development Foundation of North America and by Punjabi Markaz in Shahmukhi, another gigantic works is ‘Teeje Punjab Diyan Kahanian’ by Jameel Ahmad Paul. Dedicated to all the Punjabis in various parts of the works, this book selects the works of Punjabis living abroad. This group is called the third Punjab. These are the people who are staggered all over the globe sustaining Punjab’s culture, language and literature. The first Punjabi landed in Canada in 1897. Coming from warm waters these Punjabis created their place with hard work and dignity in the cold snowy land. The third Punjab got boost when in 1984, Indian Army took strong action against Khalistan Movement in East Punjab and slaughtered younger generation of Sikhs. Many youngsters fled from India. Now many are members of the assembly and are established businessmen. Many magazines and newspapers are published in Punjabi language in Britain, Canada and America. Among writers from the third Punjab are the ones who migrated or were born and raised abroad. Jameel Ahmad Paul has selected some important stories of the people who are living abroad because their stories reflect the culture of not only the land they live in now but also the culture they originally hail from. 24 stories have been selected for translation in this book. Stories of Akhtar Shumar, Sultan Kharvi and Farooq Nadim who are presently back home have been included which they wrote when they lived abroad. The others are Agha Ali Mudassar, Iftikhar Nasim, Amjad Mirza, Amrit Maan, Amin Malik, Baldev Singh Agarwaal, Prem Sindhu, Jagdev Jatana, Rabind Singh Atwaal, Ravinder Ravi, Sadha Singh Waraich, Shiv Charan Gill, Ashiq Raheel, Dr. Imran Mushtaq, KC Mohan, Kurpal Singh, Guru Dayal Singh Sangha, Mir Tanha Yosufi, Veena Verma and Hari Paal.

Jameel started writing a novel dedicated to his wife Atiya Jameel who went to her parents for a few days and gave Jameel solitude to do something that needed time. He ended up in writing a novelette. He edited the details that usually are the ingredients of a novel and left it for another time to expand this novelette into a novel. Time never came to his side as he had started venturing into a couple of other projects. Then, after it was published in ‘Sahet 97’, it became more popular in East Punjab. Jitender Paul Joli desired to translate it in Gurmukhi. Joginder Paul had the same wish but Poonum published it in ‘Preet Lari’ and was duly acknowledged. This novel which was a personal experience became the experience of the others as well.

It is all about an arranged marriage of Javed with a girl Tani from Kasur who after marriage never took care of her appearance; no makeup or getting fresh to receive her husband. She snores one night and also shudders in sleep. Javed sprinkles water on her face but she does not wake up. May be he had failed in his matrimonial responsibilities, Javed thought. All night Javed lay awake and did not know where to take his wife to. Then at Fajr time he hesitantly went and knocked at nurse sister Shirin’s door who was kind enough to accompany him and gave an injection to Javed’s wife. Upon query Javed informed her that they had been married for a couple of months and this was the first attack. She could not explain the reason of this hysteria. In the morning before going to office he gave a cold cup of tea to Tani who spoke in stuttering words. In consultation with his colleagues Javed took appointment with Specialist Dr. Nisar. She was diagnosed with epilepsy. He advises regular intake of medicine. Doctor also said that there should not be any tension for her. Javed however had a complaint that before marriage he should have been told of the disease by his parents in laws. Family tension erupted when Javed’s mother insisted him to leave his wife and remarry. Even his sisters joined the band. Javed was reluctant to come under their pressure. Tani’s epileptic attacks kept on increasing. Javed discovered that she was not taking medicines. That night Javed thought seriously of divorce. Javed dropped Tani at her father’s house. He could not control missing his wife. He went and brought her back.

Seven years passed. Tani avoided taking medicine despite making promises. She was advised homeopathy medicine. After she took the dose she complained that her chest was burning. She desired to burn herself. Javed stopped her. Then he took her to a psychiatrist who gave Tani a lecture on the benefits of taking medicine. One fine evening Tani suffered attack again. Javed kept a towel below her teeth and took it out after sometime. After some time she took a long breath and there was no sound. This novelette is full of depression of a mismatch, disease of wife, husband sticking to her till the end, a story of sincerity, the cult of not taking medicine as most of our people who shirk it in our society and is perhaps the story of every household.

Jameel’s other works are a book ‘Punjabi Kiwain Likhiye’, travelogue ‘Maple Di Chaan Vich’ of Toronto, Canada and ‘Parcha Kaari’ on the art of writing, editing and publishing a newspaper/journal. Jameel has visited England in 2002, 2003, 2007, Canada in 2011, India in 2004, and Saudi Arabia in 2019 and is a regular visit to Sindh to attend various conferences. Eight thesis of MA/MS level have been written on his works.

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