Tête-à-tête with Amjad Islam Amjad

To pen an introduction for a figure as legendary as Amjad Islam Amjad can be a monumental task.

Poet, playwright, educationist, columnist and literary critic par excellence, he has given Pakistan some of its most seminal cultural works. Renowned and perpetually adored plays like Waris, Samandur, Dehleez, Din, Raat, Waqt, Fishaar and Inkaar are just a few of the most vibrantly twinkling stars in the galaxy that is his prolific catalogue. The incessant voyage of his impressive, soul-elevating and award-winning compositions has covered diverse milestones like Shifting Sands, Ham Us Kay Hain, Sahilon Ki Hawa, Phir Yun Huwa, Zara Phir Se Kehna and Itne Khawb Kahan Rakhun Ga and many others.

Apart from being the author of more than seventy books, he is the subject of more than ten more, each written by authors and critics globally-renowned in their own right. The Pride of Performance and Sitara-e-Imtiaz are a few glittering pearls out of the deep sea of his accolades and accomplishments. Outside Pakistan, he has been honoured by Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan with the Necip Fazil International Culture and Art Award. Addressing the ceremony, the Turkish leader is noted to have said: “Amjad Islam Amjad is one of the most important poets in modern Urdu literature.”

In a decades-spanning career, he has served as an Assistant Professor (Urdu) at Government MAO College Lahore, Deputy Director (Drama & Literature) Punjab Council of Arts, Director General Urdu Science Board Lahore, Project Director Children Library Complex Lahore and Director (Curriculum Wing) Punjab Textbook Board Lahore. Besides, he has to his credit a remarkable track of advisory and supervising services at various private sector universities and other literary and academic institutions.

With a resume this stacked, one may intimidate one’s own self when seeking an audience with him. And yet, it is above all his innate charisma that both disarms and fills one with awe at the same time when one has the pleasure of engaging him in conversation face-to-face. In candid conversation, the legend took me on a journey reflecting on his life and legacy,

MAK: Let us begin with your childhood phase and early life.

AIA: Well, I was born on the 4th of August 1944, in Lahore, and completed my matriculation from Muslim Model High School Lahore. I was lucky to be taught by the eminent teacher Master Abd-ul-Aziz there. He was the father of the former finance minister Dr Mahboob-ul-Huq. This school was very famous for both academics and sports, and especially for cricket and cricketers. Cricketer Asif Masood was my class fellow.

I passed my intermediate from Islamia College Railway Road while got graduated from Islamia College Civil Lines. I am a colour-holder of the college in cricket. I was in the eleven of Islamia College Civil Lines that defeated the Government College team after 12 years. At that time, the GC team featured some of the big names of the future, such as Shafqat Rana, Pervez Sajjad and other test cricketers.

MAK: You have played First Class Cricket and Patrons’ Trophy. Did you ever feel any repentance on not being a famous or international sports star?

AIA: Never ever! I am really grateful to the Almighty for whatever I am today and whatever I have been endowed with. That very period was really a decisive and crucial one for me. I was interested in both the fields and wanted to opt for one with serious intention. So, I took up literature as a full-time field and got admission in MA Urdu. I was the topper in Punjab University Oriental College and 2nd in the University. I was the Chairman of the Literary Society in fifth year, and worked as the Chief Editor of the University journal Mehver in 6th year. My first poem was published in quarterly ‘Fanoon’ of Ahmed Nadeem Qasmi in January 1966. That is how this journey began.

In so far as cricket is concerned, I was an off-spinner and this was at a time when the country had four to five capable off-spinners waiting in the queue. So, I realised that I would not be able to make my way.

MAK: How and when did you step into the realm of creating plays and lyrics for entertainment media?

AIA: I started my career as a playwright from Radio Pakistan and my first play on radio was ‘Tooti Kahan Kamand’. It went on air in 1967 and was directed by the late Jamil Malik. Talat Hussain, Badi-ul-Zaman and Saleem Nasir performed in it.

My first television play was ‘Aakhri Khawb’, telecast by the PTV Rawalpindi Centre in 1973. After that, I wrote two plays titled ‘Mom ki Guria’ and ‘Barzakh’ for the series ‘Havva Key Naam’, directed by Sahira Kazmi, in 1974. Rahat Kazmi acted in that one.

My first play for the PTV Lahore Centre was ‘Khawb Jagtey Hain’ and it was presented on 23rd March 1975, the day I got married. That play won me the first Graduate Award.

Since then, I have achieved 18 Graduate Awards and six PTV awards for best writer. My first TV serial was ‘Waris’, which was presented from October 1979 to February 1980, by the PTV Lahore Centre. That very play brought me great fame and popularity. Not only was it telecast twice on the national TV channel, it has even been translated into Chinese.

MAK: The theme of ‘Waris’ was really a unique one with an iconoclastic approach and it did create a new surge in the field of social literature. How did you decide to write about feudalism and its harmful impacts on the society? Did that concept tickled your creative mind by chance or there is a personal bitter experience about feudalism in your life?

AIA: You have touched upon a very significant point. People often discuss this issue with me and most of them do not believe in this fact of my life that I have never been to a village as a resident throughout my life span. They believe that the meticulous handling of and command over this topic is proof that the writer has at least 20 years’ experience of living in a feudal society. I was born in the urban Lahore and never have had any personal or familial association with feudal system or culture. But, right from my early life, I was quite conscious of and worried about social injustice and class discrimination. Moreover, the events and real life stories in the society, around me, were the reflective of our culture and these very factors paved the way for ‘Waris’, and masses welcomed this with appreciation.

MAK: Sir, are you contented and happy with your life or wish to be born again to fulfil your pending ambitions or finalise your incomplete tasks?

AIA: Keep in mind one thing. Perfection, saturation and completion are words associated with idealism. You can never be satisfied with your work; you just achieve a milestone and continue your journey to the next one and the life goes on and on. One should try his best to play his role successfully and progressively, making his today and tomorrow better than the previous day. If you are improving and learning constantly, that is your success.

MAK: So, you do not have any complaint about or regret with life?

AIA: Well, I have one general grievance or sense of guilt as a member of our society because it has never made progress in accordance with its opportunities, or taken advantage of its potential, human resource and gifted populace. Allah has endowed us with miraculous boons, but we never explored or exploited them properly and underestimated and underutilised ourselves as a nation.

MAK: Thanks a lot sir. In the end I request you to give some advice to the new generations of our country.

AIA: I will advise them to respect their socio-moral norms and realise the significance of freedom and the price our ancestors had to pay for that freedom. We should stop criticising our society and country and should begin, like a sober nation, to ponder over our problems and their solutions. We have potential and passion and only positive and judicious decisions and planning is needed as when the policies are directed towards the right directions, nothing can stop you from achieving your targets.

MAK: You have been closely associated with teaching, curriculum planning, policymaking and socio-educational developments in the society. Are you satisfied with the country’s education status and strategies?

AIA: Actually, we are still caught between the devil and the deep sea for we have never succeeded to come out of the confusion whether the British legacy is the better education scheme or the vernacular one with the Eastern subjects accompanying religious teachings. So, we are experimenting with three diverse kinds of the schooling systems: we have added a third one to the list, the crippled combination of the two above-mentioned systems. The main objective of education is to prepare refined and trained individuals who can work for the betterment of the society. But, here, unfortunately, we are producing obedient workers only and not the decision makers. The reasons of these flawed policies are discernable in the colonial period system. Initially, our religious convents were very good as they used to teach Literature, Maths, Logic and other important subjects. When the British came here, they implemented their own education systems and policies to infuse their own culture into the veins of our young generations. Unfortunately, we could not develop a strong, comprehensive and modernised education program or policy of our own to meet the global challenges.

MAK: The contemporary world is of machines, robots, smart phones and information technology. Will the lust for literature and book reading survive in this backdrop?

AIA: They say nothing lasts forever except change, so we cannot stop it or resist it. We have to change ourselves according to the demands and requirement of the emerging scenarios. Once upon a time there were books and scripts written only on tree-leaves, animal-skin or bones that were replaced by the paper in the next phase of the history. After the invention of printing machines and press, the whole system got revolutionised and proliferation of the copies of a script got easier and cheaper. With the emergence of computer and information technology, the things have miraculously changed in a very short span of human history. So, the forms and shapes or the way of presentation of the books has been changed, but the trend of reading and valuing books has not declined amongst the masses.