NO scholar working on Urdu fiction can afford to ignore Qurratul Ain Hyder (1927-2007), one of the greatest fiction writers of Urdu, often affectionately and reverently referred to as Ainee Aapa by literature buffs.

So no wonder Jameel Akhter, a scholar from India with a deep interest in Urdu fiction, devoted much of his time and efforts researching the life and works of Miss Hyder. In fact, Akhter has compiled and brought out the complete works of Miss Hyder in 11 volumes and written a monograph on her and published a three-volume study titled Qurratul Ain Hyder Ki Kainat-i-Fan. Now his new book on the writer has appeared. Titled Qurratul Ain Hyder: Tafheem Ke Mutanavve Zaviye, it was first published in India and has now been reproduced in Pakistan by Lahore’s Worldview Publishers.

The book raises a question about Qurratul Ain Hyder’s correct date of birth. It is generally believed that she was born on Jan 20, 1926 and this date is quoted in almost every source. But Jameel Akhter says Qurratul Ain Hyder was born on Jan 20, 1927. As the book is a collection of articles published from time to time in different periodicals, there is a lack of compatibility between what Akhter says about her date of birth on different pages. First he says there is a dispute over her correct date of birth and her correct “date of birth is still not known by anybody”. He says that even Qurratul Ain herself “has not shed any light on the issue” (page 22). Then he quotes Miss Hyder’s autobiographical novel Kaar-i-Jahan Daraaz Hai wherein she has mentioned, on page 407, that at the time of her admission into a college, a year or so had to be added as her actual age was less than 16, the minimum required age. So, on her admission form her father mentioned her date of birth as Jan 20, 1927. Then Akhter goes on to say “she was never serious about her date of birth” and “kept it an enigma” (page23). But on page 279, he writes that Qurratul Ain Hyder herself had mentioned her date of birth in several of her writings, which is Jan 20, 1927.

As the title suggests, the book is an endeavour to discover and evaluate Hyder’s wealth of many and versatile talents: in addition to her immense talent for writing novels and short stories, she had also tried her hand, mostly successfully, at music, feature film-making, pen-sketch writing, painting, autobiography, article writing and translation, not to mention her writings for juvenile readers. The book discusses all these aspects in separate chapters, beginning with a foreword and an introduction to Hyder’s life, her achievements and her migrating to Pakistan. It also presents a critical overview of her works and her creative journey right from the beginning. The last three chapters discuss Prof Abdul Mughni’s critical work on Qurratul Ain’s creative works, the journals that her mother Nazr Sajjad Hyder kept and that mentioned some important events, including Miss Hyder’s date of birth.

As put by Akhter in the preface, Miss Hyder was an author and artist who had a multi-faceted personality and to understand her works fully one must study various manifestations of her creativity in different spheres. Miss Hyder, writes Akhter, learnt basics of music and studied Indian Music as a subject in matriculation. She took admission to Lucknow’s Government School of Art and furthered this knowledge at London. In fact, a solo exhibition of her paintings was arranged in London in 1945. She had acquired practical training in feature film-making which later helped her much when she created several feature films in Pakistan and India. All these artistic touches can be traced in her fiction, which is her forte, adds Akhter.

Jameel Akhter had had close association with Miss Hyder during his research on her and his preparing her collected works, which had her consent and advice as well. It helped him prepare a definitive version of her works, free from errors. As mentioned by him in foreword, Miss Hyder was a vivacious, witty, well-read person and a generous host, quite contrary to the picture drawn by some of her critics and some of her visitors. Yes, she was a bit choosy and did not bear with superficial ideas or childish behaviour, but behind a stern exterior was a loving and erudite mind that showed respect for humanity and was courteous to young ones even, writes Akhter.

One wishes another chapter would have been added to the book discussing the Urdu language used by Qurratul Ain Hyder in her works. She not only had a command over different levels of the language, for instance, formal, informal, poetic, rustic, slang and colloquial, but she has also wonderfully captured the parlance of some peculiar characters in her works, notably Chandni Begum.

drraufparekh@yahoo.com

Published in Dawn, November 25th, 2024