Fiction writer Abdul Waheed remembers the excitement of borrowing books from the street libraries for one rupee per day and finishing them in one go to save money for more books. Born into a working class family in Sanda of Lahore, he cherishes the early days of his life when the city was not so chaotic and overcrowded.

“There were lush green fields, playgrounds and peaceful streets where we would roam around freely for long hours. The cityscape has distorted over the years and we cannot give a rich childhood to our kids who spend most of their time indoors,” he laments.

Inspired by the writings of Hameed Akhtar romaticising the literary environment of Pak Tea House, Waheed got attached with the progressive literary circles of the city.

The Pak Tea House was closed and Chaupaal at Nasser Bagh started housing literary sessions but it’s environment was dull and boring as compared to the scenes portrayed by Hammed Akthar in his columns but the young Waheed was impressed by the way people would analyse, interpret and criticise the pieces of literature presented before them mostly by young writers.

“I had no political background but strongly felt associated with the pro-people ideology of the Progressive Writers Association (PWA),” he says.

Associated with the PWA for more than a decade now, Waheed remained the office-bearer of the association for a few years that helped a great deal in developing his conceptual understanding and creative expression. Working as an accountant in the corporate sector to earn a living added another dimension to his observations as a writer.

“My first essay on the disappearance of letter boxes from streets of Lahore was appreciated by my friends. It gave me a sense of pride and I ventured into writing fiction. After writing my first short story triggered by the death of my close relatives struggling with hepatitis C, I felt relaxed from the agony caused by their tragic deaths,” he reveals what kicked off his writing.

Waheed’s first collection of Urdu short stories, titled Qabal-az-Maseeh, published in 2013, was well received by the literary circles of Lahore. He is currently working on a novel and finalising another collection of short stories to be printed by the start of next year.

Inspired by the writings of Kulwant Singh Virk, he decided to write in Punjabi but failed to write anything, either in Urdu or Punjabi, for few years and then decided to resume his writings in Urdu.

“Manto and Ghulam Abbas are my permanent sources of inspiration to write. The writers of the 1970s, like Intizar Hussain and Enver Sajjad, in pursuit of making an identity of their own, adopted the complex style of writing which alienated literature from the common readers. They made their short stories complicated enough to repell the common man. But the trend is changing now. The young writers are not following the complex style of writing,” he believes.

A keen observer of the social landscape he is living in, Waheed knits his stories with intricate details. The characters portrayed in his stories are found narrating the life of the commoners struggling to cope with the challenges of the mundane life. Rather than looking at his characters like a tourist or a social analyst, it seems he creates them out of first-hand experiences of his own. This passionate involvement of Waheed in his work transforms his stories into a real-life experiences that grab the readers and leave them with a sound impression, forcing them to think about the shades of human misery.

Published in Dawn, October 21st, 2018