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Maqsood Saqib started his literary career inthe early Seventies. He wrote some stories for both Urdu and Punjabi journals, but his first love was Punjabi. At the department of Punjabi he had the opportunity of sitting in the company of literary giants like Najm Hosain Syed, the Chairman of of the department, and Professors Asaf Khan and Ali Abbas Jalalpuri, who were part time teachers in Punjabi. It soon turned into full time commitment to the promotion of the Punjabi language. He started working with the Mazdur Kisan Party also.This was not the beginning of a career, but of an intellectual and political commitment. Punjabi language activism has its roots in pro-people politics of the left. But in Pakistan, like the politics of the left, Punjabi language activism remains a daunting uphill task.
Punjabi,the mother tongue of more than sixty percent of the people of Pakistan and the14th major language of the world among several thousand, is rarely the subjectof literary discourse. Saqib’s work is all the more remarkable in this dumb circumstance. Maqsood Saqib’s learning and growth has continued unabated for the last 40 years, making him a literary figure to reckon with in both West and East Punjab. He made the premier Punjabi magazine,”Maan Boli”, the vehicle of his work. This monthly magazine, that was published jointly with Muniruddin Khalid, was edited by Maqsood Saqib. It started publishing in 1987. Munir left the magazine in the mid-nineties. “Maan Boli” was awarded the Bhai Vir Singh Award in 1990 for the best magazine of Punjabi. The Bhai Vir Singh Award is a very prestigious art and literature award. Saqib’s fellow awardees in 1990 wereMulk Raj Anand and Pandit Ravi Shankar. His Holiness the Dalai Lama presided over the award function.
Saqib continued the publishing of the magazine under a new name, “Puncham,” at the time of the closing of “Maan Bol”i in 1997. It has not changed its format or lowered its standards. Saqib also started a publishing house which is the premier publishing house of Punjabi in Pakistan . It publishes literary works and history of Punjab and Punjabi language ..
Saqib has also written seven books: two collections of his own short stories, one collection of translated short stories from Europe, three excellent books on classical music, and one translation of Arundhati Roy’s “Walking with theComrades.” His countless write-ups and editorials would make several more volumes. Today I will only briefly write about these seven books. All these articles/stories formed part of the contents of the magazines “Puncham” or“Maan Boli” originally.
“Sucha Tilla tay Hor Kahanian ,” contains remarkable character sketches of the working class, the class whose people and language he loves. James Joyce once wrote in Dubliners)“How can you write stories of people you do not love?” These stories are not structured like the conventional stories with a beginning, middle and an appropriate to the events, ending. In modern stories the structures are not fixed. His second collection of short stories “Kahanian” was published soon after .
Saqib’s life story is a lifetime of intellectual and creative growth. By now, he is an icon of Punjabi prose. His language is chaste, and conceptual clarity is his forte. His language is a composite mixture of Punjabi dialects. He has a scholarly command of Punjabi folklore, myth, literature and tradition.
But the real gems of this lot are his three books on classical music. Two volumes consist of translations of various well-known writers on classical music. The most remarkable feature of these books is their readability and the detailed description of technical terms used in Indian classical music. The life stories of these classical singers who became legends in their life time are most fascinating. I know next to nothing about the complex art of classical music, but was kept awake by the quality of readability of these volumes. It a great feat of writing, in translation, to keep the freshness and accuracy of the original write-ups .There is a subtle link between language and music. I interviewed Sardar Muhammad Khan for “The News” in 1995. He has written one of the best dictionaries of the Punjabi language. When I asked him, “How did you get interested in Punjabi language and lexicography?” He said “Because I played music and that got me interested in the articulation of musical sounds. Bhat Khanday, the master theoretician of Indian classical music, says “You cannot understand music without learning your mother tongue first. And only if you know the language can you sing the notes of poetry used in the ragas (Rang)”.
The third volume consists of interviews conducted by Maqsood Saqib from time to time of the masters, teachers and singers of classical music in Pakistan. What adds to the reader’s interest is that most interviewees are film music directors. Saqib displays his own encyclopedic knowledge of music and popular movie songs. He frequently prompts and reminds the musicians of their own forgotten work. It is again Saqib’s ability to write in a language a Punjabi speaking person can understand that is the hallmark of this work.
The first volume, ”Sur Sangeet Day Hiray,” is mostly translated from Pandit B.R. Deodhar, written originally in Marathi language and translated into English by Ram Desh Mukh. You have to yourself know the technicalities and history of music too. But he manages to take even a novice reader along . Saqib shows consummate knowledge of music as well as of Punjabi idioms to explicate it. The volume includes well-known masters of music like Khan Saab Allah Dia Khan, Abdul Karim Khan, Allahuddin Khan, Pandit Vishnu Dagambhar, Baba Sainday Khan, Pandit Bhaskar Rao, Kesar Bai Kerkar, Baday Ghulam Ali Khan, Pandit V.N Bhat Khanday, Pandit Omkaar Naath Thakhur and Muggo Bai Kurdikar. I am listing all of them for the interested readers information.
“Shah Mohray,” the second volume, is mostly translated from G.N. Joshi’s book in English. Besides repeating some of the masters already covered, it includes legendary Kaisar Bai Keerkar, Ameer Khan, D.V. Paluskaar, Wilayat Khan, Kumar Ghandarav, Ustad Allah Rakha Khan, Bismillah Khan, Bheem Sen Joshi, Kishori Amonikar, and for the common readers like me, there are K.L.Saigal and Lata Mangeshkar too.
The third book is interviews conducted by Saqib himself from time to time, “Sangeet Karan Dian Gallan.” Here the man behind the work reveals himself. He prompts the interviewee wherever he forgets or falters.This does not happen only in the case of music but also for stage actors and theatre persons. There is going to be a volume on interviews of stage and theatre persons, which is under publication. The luminaries included in this volume are Noor Jahan, Farida Khanum, Zahida Parveen, Shahida Parveen, musicdirectors Master Inayat Hussain, Tufail Farooqui, Ustad Salim Hussain, the Dhurpad master Ustad Hafeez Khan, Arif Hussain Shah, Ustad Muhammad Tufail Khan, and Talib Hussain Khan. Pandit Hari Parashad Chaurasia during his visit to Lahore was interviewed by Saqib. Ustad Khadim Hussain and Ramzan Khan are also included. For the readers’ interest, he has included an article on the legendary child singer, Master Madan.
Saqib’s article on Noor Jahan is a masterpiece of polemics. He theorizes that NoorJahan’s singing single-handedly lifted Punjabi movies above the Urdu movies in Pakistan, till Urdu movies almost died out , because Punjabi was the language of the majority of the audience and Madam Noor Jahan’s singing lured them away from Urdu movies. Although Madam Noor Jahan sang some unforgettable numbers in Urdu, directed by Master Ghulam Haider and Khurshid Anwar, her Punjabi songs were catchier and made box office blockbusters from the first Punjabi movie till her death a decade ago. These songs were on every Punjabi’s lips. Saqib says that the Punjabi language question, always ignored by the government and media, was single-handedly settled by Madam Noor Jahan! Iam again reminded of a saying of Pandit Bhat Khanday - that you cannot sing unless you love your mother tongue !
The sixth book is a collection of short stories translated from English. Translation is the engine of progress in any language. Besides the short stories of three well-known writers of the world, Dostoevsky, Brecht and Garcia Marquez, there are stories from writers from Poland, Hungary, Africa, and Palestine. These areexcellent stories very readably translated.
This review has turned into more of a write-up about music and a lot of lists rather than language and the writers’ personality. But you would agree with my reasons if you read these books. Panegyrics alone do not make a tribute; some essence and substance has to be shown. Space and the English medium do not allow me to demonstrate Saqib’s mastery over the Punjabi language.
Saqib’s interests are not restricted to music; he is essentially a man of literature, but in a wider application of the term. The definition of creative literature has changed from novels, poetic narrative and literary tropes to all fields of writing. Freud is also taught as literature in Germany. Saqib has also translated Freud as well as the book ”Second Sex” by Simone de Beauvoir (volumes which are yet to appear).
Computers and social media have changed the nature of media as well as the narrative. Saqib’s computer sites/blogs on music and poetry are very popular and show great application and organized work. All old magazines and a lot of books have also been put online by Saqib.
Saqib repeatedly acknowledges Najm Hosain Syed’s guidance and inspiration. Najm Hosain Syed, Punjabi’s man of the 20th century, needs no introduction. Hundreds of us are similarly beholden to him.
Saqib’s wife Faiza Raana is a great writer in her own right. In the business of publishing and writing, team work is an essential element. Faiza is also very well-versed in Urdu and English and makes substantial contributions in Saqib’s landmark work. She is also co-editor of “Puncham.” What makes this couple an unbeatable team, Saqib or Faiza? It is difficult to say!