A tribute to A. Hameed
Muhammad Zahid Rifat
With the demise of Abdul Hameed, popularly known as A. Hameed, a prolific writer, especially about Lahore, its people and its culture and traditions, has passed into eternity.
If anyone wanted to know how Lahore looked like in the 1950s, 1960s and onwards, and also about the literary and cultural luminaries of those days, he could easily find the information in Hameed’s writings.
His demise undoubtedly has reminded me of another literary figure, Younis Adeeb, who too had written a lot about Lahore, its people and places. Both Adeeb and Hameed were contemporaries and close friends for many years. They both now lie in eternal rest in Lahore’s Miani Sahib graveyard though at some distance from each other.
Adeeb had, like a true son of the soil, written a lot about Lahore, its people, places and traditions with particular reference to the old Lahore within the Walled City. He was genuinely proud to be a Lahori and never wasted a moment to express this. As a matter of fact, he had written a book titled Mera Shehr Lahore in early 1990s and its foreword was written by none other than Hameed. He had expressed his gratitude to Adeeb for writing a book on Lahore and thus fulfilling the most cherished desire of his life.
More so, if somebody wishes to thoroughly learn and understand the true colours of Lahore, he just needs to read two books: Adeeb’s book, Mera Shehr Lahore, second edition of which was printed in January 1992, and Hameed’s book entitled Dekho Shehr Lahore. In all fairness, if one goes through what Hameed and Adeeb had written about both the old and new Lahore (pre- and post-partition), he would not feel lost while walking through the Walled City and across the Mall Road (baptised now as the Shahrah-i-Quaid-i-Azam), as both the writers would be walking beside him.
Anyway, a prolific writer as he was earning his livelihood through his writings, Hameed had more than 200 books to his credit. He lived in Samanabad for decades and at a short distance from literary figure of Sufi Ghulam Mustafa Tabussum. He was associated with the Lahore Radio Station, as a staff artist for about four decades and Voice of America for a short period.
Hameed also wrote regularly for Nawa-i-WaqtÂ’s Sunday Magazine for more than a decade. Through these columns every week, he would talk about Lahore, its people and different institutions as well as his long and short journeys to foreign countries.
He started his journey into the literary realm in 1948 through his short story titled Manzil Manzil that was published in Adab-e-Latif, which was a literary journal. Ever since Hameed never stopped to look back and went on to write more and more short stories, romantic and adventurous novels for elders as well as children in an unending manner, although he had slowed down a bit during the last couple of years.
Out of the long list of Hameed’s novels, some of the most famous ones are: Jangal Rautey Ham, Udaas Jangal Khushboo, Pehli Muhabbat Key Aansoo, Champakali, Janoobi Hind Ke Jangloon Mein, Ganga Ke Pujari (two volumes), Ehraam Ke Deota, Gulistan-e-Adab Ki Sunehri Yaadien, Chand Chehrey, Baleedan (two volumes), Undalas Ki Akhri Shama, Harappa Ki Naagin and Ehraam-e-Misr Se Farar.
Before I started writing this little piece, I scanned through Hameed ‘s book, Dekho Shehr
Lahore, to know more about the personalities, places and institutions mentioned there (without any order of priority) that included defunct English dailies Civil and Military Gazette, Daily Afaq, Daily Tribune, Mashriq, Zamindar , Imroze and Pakistan Times; famous personalities like Maulana Chiragh Hassan Hasrat, Meem Sheen (Mian Muhammad Shafi), Syed Sibte Hassan, Abdullah Malik, Hamid Akhtar, Shakoor Ahsan, Nasir Kazmi, Intezar Hussain, Ali Sufiyan Afaqi, Qayyum Qureshi, Burhanuddin Hassan, Syed Noor Ahmad, Saadat Hassan Minto, Syed Kirmani, Shibli B. Coin. Ehsan B.A.; Bhatti and Rollo photographers, like Ustad Amanat Ali Khan, Abdullah Butt, Ban Alig, Allauddin Kalim, Siddique Kalim, Shakir Ali, Ali Imam, Ahmad Pervaiz; producer-director Aslam Irani, music director Tufail Farooqi, Zahoorul Hassan Dar, Maulana Zafar Ali Khan, Maulana Akhtar Ali Khan, Maulana Mansoor Ali Khan, Majeed Al-Makki, Hameed Al-Makki, Photographer Zaidi, B.S. Jaffery, Marghoub Siddiqui, Muzaffar Ehsani, Waqar Ambalvi, Zahur Alam Shaheed, Hameed Nizami, Ustad Badey Ghulam Ali Khan, Nazakat Ali Khan, Salamat Ali Khan, music director Khayyam, Abdul Shakoor Bedal, Fida Ahmad Kardar, Khan Sahib Barkat Ali Khan, Shuhrat Bokhari, Qateel Shifai, Dr Waheed Qureshi, Habib Jalib, Kishwar Naheed, Yousuf Kamran, Anwal Jelal, Shuja Saif, Akmal Aleemi, Ashfaq Ahmad, Moeen Najmi, Riaz Qadir, Ehsan Qadir, Abbas Ahmad Abbasi, director Hassan Tariq; places and buildings like Chinese shoemakers and dentists; Dyal Singh Mansion, Regal Cinema, Rattan Cinema Punjab Assembly, Chairing Cross, Queen Victoria’s statute, Simla Hill, Muslim Town, Model Town, Gulberg, Faisal Town, Jail Road, Defence, the famous Coffee House, Chinese Lunch Home, Lahore Hotel, WAPDA House, Metro Hotel, Falettis and Braganza Hotels, Lords Hotel, Arab Hotel, Pak Tea House, Beaden Road, Abbot Road, Mcleod Road, Nicholson Road, Dyal Singh College, Naqi Building, Café D’Orient, Halqa Arbaab-e-Zauq, Radio Station, State Bank of Pakistan and YMCA Hall among a host of others. I have not mentioned all of the personalities and places that are included in the book. Indeed, it helped me to know more about Lahore than I thought I knew.
i Hameed is a legend, who was born in Amritsar and migrated to Lahore after the partition of the subcontinent. How many writers who know and are writing about Lahore now? Alas, not many!
The writer is a freelance columnist.
Source: The News
Date:5/15/2011
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