Great minds: ‘Can torment inspire creativity?’

Shamim Ahmed's book talks about how development and torment go together.

KARACHI:

Creativity born out of torment is the best way to describe Shamim Ahmed's book, Torment and Creativity.

The book which was launched at Alliance Française on Saturday, lists all the great minds who have suffered from internal and external torment.

To the author, he said, a book is like their child. "My childhood, psychological knowledge and exposure to literature taught me that life is not a bed of roses," said Ahmed. "I have described five kinds of torments in my research but the one which is not about the 'self' but about the surroundings."

Ahmed's uncle, Brig Dr Abdur Rehman Siddiqui said the writer used to read a lot of Faiz, Ghalib and others as a child and was quite sensitive yet affectionate. According to the former federal minister and ambassador to the US, Sherry Rehman, the book was a labour of psychological, philosophical and intellectual endeavour. "I have known this man as my mentor as he was a friend and a colleague of my mother's," she said. "This is a huge effort as in this environment he has come up with a book that is so intellectual and quite different from the ones produced in the region." She added that the book talks about how there is little development when there is no torment.

"Art is the one of the few places where you don't have to make compromises," she said. "Although where I come from, politics is full of lies everywhere where one has to make compromises on what they stand for." The session was moderated by writer Ghazi Salahuddin who said that these days there were few people who loved books.

Former information minister Javed Jabbar said it would not have been possible for Ahmed to write the book without tranquility which was provided by his wife, Rana. He added that the book was titled quite aptly. "The question is, is torment self-inflicted or do external forces affect the individual? Can torment really inspire people to become creative?"

Published in The Express Tribune, May 13^th, 2014.