Writing and history: ‘Buddha’s stories beat Chekhov’s any day’

LAHORE:

Hussain was in conversation with Dr Arifa Syeda Zahra on ‘Myth, history and story’.

In a wide ranging talk, Hussain underscored the need for the writer to be hones and to be comfortable in his or her surroundings. Referring to poet Josh Malihabadi, who migrated to Pakistan in 1958, he said that he should have remained in India, where he was so respected that he had been in direct contact with then prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Coming to Karachi was an injustice to Malihabadi’s poetry, Hussain said.

He said that a writer should be accepting of their influences. For example, Sir Muhammad Iqbal had obtained all of his knowledge from the West, but then disdained it. “It was the West which enabled him to become ‘Allama Iqbal’,” Hussain said.

About the major influences on his writing, Hussain said that he had learnt a lot from the Buddha.

The stories weaved into the discourse of the Buddha were some of the greatest stories ever told, he remarked. “I realised that the Buddha was the real story teller, and I was wasting my time reading Chekhov,” he said.

Dr Zahra noted that a good historian was one who connected the past with the present and this was what Intezar Hussain has done. She said he was one of the greatest writers of South Asia.

The programme began with a two-minute silence in remembrance of those who lost their lives in the terrorist attack on a church in Peshawar on Sunday.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Yaqoob Khan Bangash, the chairman of the Department of History, said that the terrorists had attacked all Pakistanis.

 “All Saints’ Church was built like a mosque and showed the harmonisation of the Christian religion with Pakhtun culture. Therefore this attack was one on cultural interchange, harmony, and simply, humanity,” he said. Speakers also condemned the twin bombings in Peshawar.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 24^th, 2013.