Hottie of the week: Daniyal Mueenuddin

Who is he?

With his salt and pepper hair and that intelligent half-smile; Mueenuddin looks like Richard Gere’s younger brother, but he has one of the most exciting voices in the current crop of Pakistani writers of English fiction. Born to a Pakistani father and an American mother, this short story writer lived in Pakistan till he was 13. And his experiences on his father’s family farm in South Punjab such as hunting ducks and partridges or frequenting Fort Derewar and Thar Desert formed much of the inspiration behind his Pulitzer Prize Finalist In Other Room, Other Wonders.

Why we’re crushing on him

What’s not to love about a man who can express himself so eloquently and lyrically? We can only wonder what a love letter from this writer would read like.

Mueenuddin happens to be a landlord ... but he’s no typical ‘saaien’. After he graduated from Dartmouth, his ailing father asked him to return to Pakistan and rescue the family farm. Like a true family man, this self-proclaimed “farm manager”, came back and revolutionised the system with bonuses and higher salaries for the farmers — and eventually got everything back on track.

What you didn’t know about him

This Yale graduate is so committed to his art that he gave up his “unsatisfying” job as a corporate lawyer at a top notch NY firm and picked up the pen instead.

Published in The Express Tribune, Ms T, August 19^th, 2012.