Writers, poets, members of academia and critics on Monday celebrated ‘Khushboo ki Diwar kay Peechay’ the latest book, rather an autobiography of the prominent fiction writer and critic of Urdu literature Mohammad Hameed Shahid.
They termed it a combination of personal account of life, Shahid’s literary journey, his views on political and cultural and literary landscape and above all, sketches of contemporary writers and poets with whom Mohammad Hameed Shahid chanced to spend time.
The event that took place at the National Language Promotion Department (Idara-e-Farogh-e-Qaumi Zubaan) was jointly organized by the literary and cultural organization Zavia. Literary stalwarts like Iftikhar Arif, Jalil Aali, Mehboob Zafar, Dr Humaira Ashfaq, Arshad Mehmood Nashad, Wafa Chishti and poets and writers of the twin cities including Munir Fayaz, Bibi Ameena, Sanobar Altaf and others attended the ceremony and congratulated Hameed Shahid for penning down an over 450-page book that takes the reader down the memory lane when Hameed Shahid as a young boy saw his father reading books and thus started his literary journey.
“It is from his father that he inherited the habit of reading and then with the passage of time this developed into passion,” said Iftikhar Arif commending Hameed Shahid for continuing to read and write for such a long time.
It is through his writings, we discover Hameed Shahid’s conviction in literature and I congratulate him on keeping this passion and loyalty to literature alive, said Iftikhar Arif.
He also praised Hameed Shahid’s wife Yasmeen for standing by her husband and supporting and encouraging him in completing the gigantic task of writing an autobiography. Besides the autobiography, there are several books of stories, novels and criticism by Hameed Shahid that have won him international fame and acclaim. Iftikhar Arif particularly mentioned the first chapter of the book calling it a sincere but sad picture of the deteriorating family system and values in our society. It is quite amazing how a boy from Pindigheb (district Attock) is grown up in tightly-knit joint family and how this has a lasting impact on his mind, said Iftikhar Arif adding this autobiography could be placed among the great autobiographies of our times. Iftikhar Arif also remembered great Urdu story writer Mansha Yad who was considered a mentor of the young lot of short story writers and there was a time when Hameed Shahid and Mansha Yad used to work tirelessly for promotion of short stories.
Prof Jalil Aali also commended Hameed Shahid who despite being a banker by profession, has enchanting power on his readers. Khushboo ki Diwar is not only a riveting tale of his literary journey it is also a social, political and literary comment on our age. The fact that Hameed Shahid is a critic as well as a creative writer makes him different from the run-of-the-mill writers said Jalil Aali. The book is not only a personal account it also tells us how Hameed Shahid respectfully admired the great writers and poets of his time and how they in return treated him with respect and love.
