Daily Times

The November 2015 issue of monthly literary magazine Adab-e-Lateef is its 80th issue. It was started by Barkat Ali Chaudhry in 1935. This reviewer appreciates the fact that two ghazals of Dagh and Momin have been printed on the inside cover and back inside cover of the magazine. Who does not remember Dagh’s “Ghazab Kiya Tere Wade Pe Aitbar Kiya/Tammam Raat Qayamat Ka Intizar Kiya”. As a student of music, this viewer likes Muhammad Rafi’s rendition of this ghazal the best, composed by melody maker Khayyam. Similarly Momin Khan Momin’s “Navak Andaaz Jidher Deeda-e-Janaan Honge/Neem Bismil Kai Honge Kai Bejan Honge” was beautifully rendered by Mehdi Hassan. The back cover contains Insha Ibn-e-Insha’s ghazal “Kamar Bandhe Hue Chalne Ko Hum Tayyar Baithe Hain/Buhut Aage Gaye Baqi Jo Hain Tayyar Baithe Hain”. This is very thought provoking poetry as it reminds one to correct one’s deeds as he/she has to face the next world on his/her own. This reviewer offers his compliments to the editor to place selections of asaatazaas as a reminder of quality poetry to the new generation!

The positive part of this magazine is that it avoids including too many submissions of the writers and poets. The inclusion in the present issue is selective; two hamds, four poems, one essay, two memoirs, six ghazals, four short stories and one section on opinions. Poem “Aman Ki Sada” by Murli Chand calls for removing the bias against each other.

New York Times had published an article last year stating “like real estate agents the world over, Rahul Rewal asked his clients if they have children or pets, since both limit options. But there is another crucial but often unspoken question: Are they Muslim? I tailor the list of places that I show Muslims because many landlords, even in upper-class neighbourhoods, will not rent to them,” Rewal said. “Most don’t even bother hiding their bigotry.” Discrimination against Muslims in India is so widespread that many are barely outraged when telling of the withdrawn apartment offers, rejected job applications and turned-down loans that are part of living in the country for them. The recent outburst by Shiv Sena against Muslim artists performing in India is an act of intolerance against Muslims as Prime Minister is on record of saying that India is just for Hindus. Many show-biz personalities have openly stated that they shall move to Pakistan if this discrimination perpetuates. The latest example is that of actor Om Puri. In this backdrop Murli Chand’s poem is a welcome gesture.

Love is the basic theme for Mazharul Islam who rose as a glittering star in 1970s in the domain of short story writing. This reviewer remembers him as a having a repertoire of long poems written at the end of each year. It is wondered if this effort still continues!

That was an era of metaphors and modernistic approach. Still, avoiding this offbeat trend, he gave a fresh approach to short story writing. Reference can be made of his collection “Ghoron Ke Sheher Main Akela Aadami”. He started using only those metaphor or symbols that would not create problems of interpretations by the readers. Muhammad Ghalib Nishter has written an exhaustive essay on these aspects of Mazharul Islam’s works.

Writer Abdullah Hussain was born on August 14, 1931. When he died on July 4, the Guardian reported that he “became known to the Anglophone literary world when his novel The Weary Generations was published in London in 1999. An elegant saga of India’s struggle for freedom from British rule and the subsequent partition of the country, Hussein’s novel, published in the aftermath of the 50th anniversary of subcontinent’s independence. What few critics in Britain observed at the time was that The Weary Generations was the author’s own translation – or, more accurately, rewriting – of his first novel, Udas Naslain, published in 1963 and now one of the most celebrated and influential Urdu novels. He was born Muhammed Khan in Rawalpindi, northern Punjab, in what was to become Pakistan, later adopting Abdullah Hussein as his nom de plume”. In the journal under review Dr Ghulam Shabir Rana writes an exhaustive essay on his life and works.

Mumtaz Rashid Lahori’s short story Gadla Paani – Page 79 compares the quarrelling wife of a plumber Barkat Ali with his repairing water pumps from dirt water in all the villages. Muhammad Jamil Akhtar observes the staring eyes of perpetrators in a jail wagon with that of chicken cells. Abrar Mujeeb writes a short story Pushap Gram Ka Itehaas. It deals with impact of Hindu mythology on villagers when the peace and tranquillity of a village is destroyed by the entry of a woman named Kanak Lata and the dreams of Mahinder Sharwen who repeatedly sees gradual visions of destruction. It is a different theme for Urdu afsana; well knitted.