Mazhar Iqbal Mazhar
Bahawalpur Ma Ajnabi( the stranger in Bahawalpur) is about the frank precise memoirs of Mahzr Iqbal’s short stay in Islamic university Bahawalpur for taking exam of master degree in the status of an external student way back in nintees.It is blend of account of travelogue type portrayals coupled with two fiction stories which could be termed as interpolations-in lighter note ,I love to call them two strangers within ‘the stranger of Bahawalpur! Bahawalpur Ma Ajnabi -a sort of nondescript genre- is the maiden volume of ? Mahzur Iqbal Mahzur who is from Rawalakot ?currently settled in London.He did his all secondary and post secondary education from lahore. He tried his luck in certain enterprises in the country.However, soon his mercurial disposition obliged him to bid adieu to homeland to have a better fortune abroad.Therefore , he set off to Europe for better economic prospects;yet at leisure ? he stuck to his inbuilt propensity to pen and paper. The under reviewed volume,Bahawalpur Ma Ajnabi consists of 24 brief chapters giving vent to pulsating life of this historic princely state of pre- partitioned subcontinent. Importantly, he did not lose the sight of the plight and divided status of his own state of Kashmir- an eldely and the most beautiful sister state of Bahawalpur in good olden days.Reading between the lines too implies that the author is in the search of locating his lost identity in the ado of Bahawalpur.He portrays the hustle and bustle of the cross section of the society of Bahawalpur.A reader finds a nice record of the accomplishments of Nawabs of Abbasid dynasty ranging up to the celebrated last ruler? Nawab Sadiq.Off and on, we come across beautiful instances of musical vernacular ‘Saraiki Language and flourishes of local culture.He also talks about institutions of general service providers which give us a grim image of the prevalent conditions of this territory in post acceded era. While going over this book, casually? we are left with a devouring sense of insatiety and unfulfillment; and we crave for something more.But in the eloquent foreword, the author acknowledges that the recollections furnished in the edition are dim and half -extinguished based on his diary. This humility by the author is reflection of the limitations.Nevertheless, it coaxes us to treat the book with soft hands. It is of course heartening to see a capable student devoured by the fear of examination to have that profound observation and keenness to details juxtaposed in the form of a book. Reading two fiction stories interpolated at the end of the book,I was reminded of my favourite fiction writer in Urdu , the legendary Krishan Chandar.These two stories are the most moving and interesting additions in this book. To be honest?it has all ingredients of a compact fiction.I believe that the author has great creative skill and flight of imagination to produce spellbinding stories.He must try his peculiar knack in this genre.Following the kind advice of great genuine author, and Mark Twain of Kashmir, Sardar Muhammad Kabir khan, he ought to publish this sort of fictions in a separate volume.I look forward to read more of Mahzar’s nicer stuff as he has resided in the Uk since 2011 – the country which has produced the best literature in English language and may be owning one of the four springs of knowledge and education globally besides Germany, France and the USA. Being his friend, I propose to him that his new volume could have the name ‘Ghar Bhadi in England’ paradoxically. To conclude, we can say this book has much to offer. In the era of social media, where a reader runs short of patience and purchase slim books(without knowing actual worth) or read a chapter by counting its leafs in advance, this book can be handy and demanding .The style of this book is very simple and a reader does not juggle with difficult lexicons.It is highly involving and interesting. When one starts it off does not leave till it is over.In this sense this book is safely recommended. The book was published by the Press for Peace Foundation.It has 120 pages and is available in main book stalls of AJK. Reviewed by: Prof. Khalid Akbar
