Dhalte saaye - Zindagi naama

Dhaltey saye: a remarkable autobiography

By Mushir Anwar Three very interesting autobiographies, two of them, self-admittedly, accounts of the authors’ ‘sinful lives’ – Paap beeti as they fondly and stylishly title the respective stories of their gallant days -- and the third (Dhaltey Saye) so very engaging for its candid informality, straightforwardness and sheer avoidance of cant and dissimulation, have appeared in recent months that in their own way not only make a departure from the set pattern of this genre in Urdu literature but give a lead to whoever might be thinking of writing about himself. Write without fear, they seem to be telling the prospective autobiographer. Saqi Faruqi’s Paap Beeti might remind you of Kishwar Nahid’s ‘Shanasayyan, Ruswayyan’, though on the scale of Mr Saqi’s ten she is around four in what she would have actually liked to say about her friends and foes but, on the other hand, compared to him she appears too demure about her own self. Saqi Sahib, according to his own open-ended values by which he wishes to be known and judged, judges others too. Ashfaq Naqvi Sahib, author of the second Paap Beeti, appears progressively innocent as the list of his profligate adventures lengthens. Saqi’s callous pen blots big and small alike; Naqvi hardly taints himself. But of the two sinners, some other time. Muniruddin Ahmad’s Dhaltey Saye is a very engaging account of a remarkable life. It is a brave man’s story who rose from ordinary circumstances, surmounting all kinds of hurdles --- economic, religious and cultural --- to become a writer, scholar and traveler and in sum a successful man in terms of a life well spent. One could rightly envy a career so rich in accepting challenges and not shying away from difficult situations and taking on life with full gusto and fearlessness, but above all remaining true to himself and pursuing the path which has appeared to be right to him. Born in a religious family of Ahmadis and trained in R