‘Istaara’ – emanating discussions on idyllic concepts on February 8, 2018Salahuddin Parvez, an Indian Muslim poet and filmmaker, used to publish a magazine named Istaara in 1990s. It stopped being published after his death. But two intellectuals from Lahore, Dr Amjad Tufail and Riaz Ahmad, now publish a magazine by the same name. This magazine aims not only to present the contributions of the seniors […]
Naseer Ahmad Nasir travels through centuries of sleepless nights through his book on February 1, 2018Eighth book ‘Surmai Neend Ki Bazghasht’ (echoes of antimonial or grey sleep) in succession, the earlier seven after having achieved international recognition, comprises Nasri Nazms (prose poems) by eminent poet Naseer Ahmad Nasir. The book is printed in fine quality white paper, title covered by Aalia Mirza, with a painting of an entrance door and […]
Ra’anaai Ka Sha’air — Khalid Masood on January 20, 2018Like Ata ul Haq Qasmi and Dr. Sughra Sadaf, I have never met Khalid Masood except through versions of him in his poetry book, ‘Ra’anaai’. I initially took him to be the comedy poet Khalid Masood from Multan until I saw the picture of the writer in his book under review, a book of Urdu […]
Mumtaz Rashid Lahori uses his poetry to expose the ills of our society on December 19, 2017Mumtaz Rashid Lahoristayed in Qatar for 37 years. He worked in Doha as an engineer. He was just known as Mumtaz Rashid there. It is on his return to Lahore in 2014 that he started using the title ‘Lahori’ after his name. Most of the poetry included in his earlier books was recited in Qatar […]
Rehman Verma composed music for 27 Pakistani films on December 17, 2017Before Pakistan came into being, a Jori (duo) became popular as music composers on the silver screen, namely Verma Ji & Sharma Ji. The word ‘Ji’ stood for Saheb (Mister) out of respect in Urdu/Hindi languages. Verma Ji opted to stay in Pakistan and Sharma Ji in India. Whereas Rehman Verma became a successful music […]
Tahir Anwar Pasha’s journey into the landlocked Uzbekistan on November 16, 2017Travelling to Uzbekistan was a dream for Tahir Anwaar Pasha but his banking services in the beginning and at the end of his career and life in between, as a civil servant, (in the Police Service) became hurdles. It is an amazing phenomenon that educated people have a lot of talent. One has seen many […]
Mumtaz Ahmad’s riveting selection of ‘Afsanay’ serve to enrich Urdu Literature on November 1, 2017Mumtaz Ahmad Sheikh has a passion to serve the literary community the world as far as Urdu literature is concerned. He has ventured to capture selected Afsana (short story) writings from 1901 to 2017 in his quarterly magazine, ‘Lowh’ (June – December 2017) as a gift from Old Ravians (old students of Government College, Lahore) […]