The Earring Guy — EXCERPT FROM NOVEL 𝒃𝒚 Dr. Waheed Ahmad
𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙈𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙧𝙞 𝙒𝙖𝙡𝙖 (𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙀𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙂𝙪𝙮) 𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙞𝙧 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙣 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙠,
𝘛𝘩𝘦 ᒪIᑎGO ᒪE᙭IᑕOᑎ
An Online Literary Journal of Translations
Dr. Waheed Ahmed (born in 1959) is a Pakistani poet and novelist. He graduated in Medicine from the Punjab Medical College Faisalabad — his hometown — in 1983 and joined Civil Services of Pakistan in 1985. He served on several key posts in Accounts and Audit group of Pakistani bureaucracy. He served as Military Accountant General of Pakistan and retired as Additional Auditor General of Pakistan in 2019. Dr. Waheed Ahmed holds a niche in contemporary Pakistani literature. His poems are idiosyncratic in their style and theme, and illustrate an exceptional assortment of lyricism and modern imagism among rich and diverse world of Urdu poetics not only of Pakistan but of the whole Urdu World. He is considered among the masters of contemporary free verse. He has, to the day, published five collections of Urdu poetry: 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘢𝘧𝘪𝘺𝘢𝘯 (Transparencies) - 1994, 𝘏𝘶𝘮 𝘈𝘢𝘨 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘏𝘢𝘪𝘯 (We Want Fire) - 2002, 𝘕𝘢𝘻𝘮 𝘕𝘢𝘮𝘢 (Dairy of Poems) - 2012, 𝘑𝘢𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘺𝘢𝘯 𝘜𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪 𝘏𝘢𝘪𝘯 (The Place Where Fairies Land) - 2020 and a long poem 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘵 𝘒𝘰𝘯 𝘒𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘢 𝘏𝘢𝘪 (Who Refits?) - 2022. Dr. Waheed Ahmed is the pioneer of a whole lot of poets-turned-novelists of Pakistan. He published his first Urdu novel 𝘡𝘪𝘯𝘰 in 2003 that introduced a whole new genre in Urdu fiction blending science fiction, fantasy, political satire, eco-fiction and a new face of humanism challenging the Unipolar model of the 21st century. So, he may also be called the pioneer of Polyphonic Fiction in Pakistan and Urdu world. His 2nd novel titled the 𝘔𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘪 𝘞𝘢𝘭𝘢 (The Earring Guy) published in 2012. This novel is also polyphonic in its style that is set in a utopian hill somewhere in Pakistan and shows after effects of the Western war of terrorism on everything in the Pakistani society ranging from the ruling elite to the man in faraway rural areas. Dr. Waheed Ahmed’s fiction is marked by profound humanism in global era and his style is unique and befitting to his matter.
He is recipient of many awards, including pone of the highest state honors, 𝘚𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘢-𝘦-𝘐𝘮𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘻 (Star of Excellence) in 2023. He has recently been awarded the prestigious Life Time Achievement Award by Aasar Academy for his all-around literary works.𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙈𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙧𝙞 𝙒𝙖𝙡𝙖 (𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙀𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙂𝙪𝙮) 𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙞𝙧 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙦𝙪𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙣 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙘𝙠,