Naveed Shahzad is a well-known poet, research scholar and literary critic having more than a score of books to his credit. His latest publication ‘Sutlej da Tazia (In mourning for Sutlej)’, a collection of poems, has been published by Ravel Publications, Lahore. All of us who enjoy modern Punjabi poetry know that Naveed Shahzad is a modernist poet who strives to get rid of the debris of traditional poetry which hangs around our neck like an Albatross disallowing us to breathe freely.

His creative effort is bold and relentless as is shown by his latest book. His poems are visibly marked by three elements. One, some of his poems at the structural level combines poetry and prose. Poetry and prose traditionally have been two distinct ways of expression. In the early 20th century, it was felt that essential difference between prose and poetry is not that of formal structure. It lies in the different modes of looking at things. Poetry in the traditional mould can be less poetic than prose in a poetic mould. In some of Naveed’s poems, we find together what is traditionally viewed as poetry and prose. A poem begins in a meter and then switches over to prose. So it is poetry interspersed with prose or prose interspersed with poetry that creates a distinct impression.

Apart from him we find Najam Hosain Syed, our great poet, employing this technique in some of his poems in recent years. Two, Naveed uses myths or allusions to myths as a means to decipher the underlying meanings of current reality giving it a quasi-historical context. Myth, we must remember, is born of reality in an effort to understand it. Reality of myth and myth of reality are intertwined. Poetic imagination is always fascinated by such a phenomenon pregnant with suggestive meanings. Three, there is an urgency to explore and convey what we have lost or losing fast; rivers, trees, birds, i.e. nature. In our terrible predicament we are reduced to seeing what he calls ‘paradise hung on the hanger’. In his poems a sense of loss creates angst and anguish laced with subdued anger at the ugliness that impoverishes us.

Let’s savour a few lines of one of his poems: “Earth, you are like a twig fallen from (baya) weaver’s bill / What do you know how someone spends their days in the branches? / What do you know how it’s like flying holding one’s family in one’s bill? / let me tell it’s flying like people walking away never to return…” What is striking about Naveed Shahzad’s poems is their uncanny freshness. One can feel it but cannot hold it as something definite or fully defined which creates the possibility of multiple interpretations. The book is a valuable addition to the repertoire of modern poetry which is still limited.

‘Loh-e Izhar’ is Syed Shabbir Ahmed’s latest book published by Misaal Publishers, Faisalabad. The author, we are told in the blurb, already has more than two dozen publications to his credit. “This book revolves around history, a visitor’s observations, personalities and books…Translations of stories from foreign land, tales, autobiographies, novels and chronicles have been discussed while poetry, Sufism, travelogues and music have not been left out,” says Prof Ghazi about the book.

The subtitle of the book shows that it contains literary reviews and reportage. The book is divided into two segments; literary reviews (of a number of books) and reportage. The former has some interesting entries such as the region of Khari, some lost pages of history of Mirpur, Pothohar, Farrukh Yar’s ‘Ishq Name’, neighbouring states of Kashmir, Yasir Jawad’s autobiography, and Krishan Chandra’s reminiscences about Kashmir. The latter called ‘Reportage’ is obviously about author’s observations and impressions.

Shabbir Ahmed takes us on an England’s tour. He shows us Shakespeare’s ancestral home, Bronte Sisters’ village, a festival of Punjabi, Pothohari and Pahari languages /dialects in Birmingham and launch of Mahpara’s book ‘Mera zamana, Meri Kahani’ etc. The author’s tone in most places is laudatory rather than critical as is the tradition in our part of the world where critical evaluation of any piece of writing is considered rude. So the author has to be careful; he/she should have the knack of not offending anyone while discussing an event or a book.

Shabbir Ahmed knows how to steer clear of analyses which may cause a controversy. His style of writing is unambiguous and thus easily accessible. The book offers a lot of information and informed views on history, literature and culture.

A collection of Javed Asif’s short stories in Sariaki titled ‘Puth Durr’ has been published by Fiction House. The author is a known poet, fiction writer, translator and research scholar. He lives in the boondocks but seems to be well-connected with the contemporary literature and literary trends. The book has 17 stories with an introduction by Mussarat Kalanchvi, a well-known fiction writer. “Javed Asif has a strong perception of social deprivations, and exposes social distinctions and injustices. He is aware of the artistic needs of fiction writing. That’s the reason we find in his stories at times an eerie mystique that keeps the readers engaged and doesn’t let their attention wander. And his story may have an end which nobody would have thought of,” she writes in the introduction.

“…Javed Asif as a writer has a quality; he writes the story of today. That’s how he will be remembered,” writes Muhammad Hafeez Khan, another reputable fiction writer, in his blurb. His stories focus on ordinary mortals whose existence in a rigidly hierarchical class society displays their constant struggle to not only retain their sanity but also maintain modicum of self-respect. Economic misery, social injustice, gender discrimination and class oppression inbuilt in the system constantly batter them in a systemic effort to dehumanise them. They are forced by their socio-economic conditions to live less than individuals and little more than types playing the roles assigned to them by traditions. The stories are reflective of author’s progressively inclined worldview showing the reality of human situation not as natural but as constructed by a class system we all are condemned to live with. Living at the periphery of one’s centre can enable them to experience life what it is; harsh at best and unforgiving at worst. — soofi01@hotmail.com

Published in Dawn, April 29th, 2024