The renowned Pakistani novelist, short-story writer, playwright, travel enthusiast, travelogue writer, columnist, pioneer morning TV show presenter, TV host, pioneer trekker — in his own words: a vagabond, former radio host and TV actor Mustansar Hussain Tarar was born on 1st March, 1939 in a small village Jokalian (Tilla Jogiyan), Gujrat. His family hailed from Mandi Bahauddin. He was raised in Lahore. His father, Rehmat Tarar, ran a small agricultural seed store by the name of "Kisan & company" that later flourished to a major business. Mustansar Hussain Tarar received his education from Rang Mahal Mission High School, Muslim Model High School, Government College, Lahore and then pursued higher studies in London.
In 1957, Mustansar Hussain Tarar attended the World Youth Festival in Moscow and wrote a novelette “𝘍𝘢𝘬𝘩𝘵𝘢” (Dove) about the horrors of war in the backdrop of Moscow of Soviet Era. In 1971 his first travelogue “𝘕𝘪𝘬𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘛𝘦𝘳𝘪 𝘛𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘢𝘴𝘩 𝘔𝘦𝘪𝘯” was published, which led to a new trend of travelogues in Urdu literature. So far he has over forty travelogues to his credit.
Mustansar Hussain Tarar has written more than 50 books up-till now including novels and a collection of short stories in his career. He has been honored with: Presidential award of Pride of Performance (1992), Prime Minister's award for the Best Novelist for his novel “𝘙𝘢𝘬𝘩” (1999), Life time achievement award of 𝘈𝘭𝘮𝘪 𝘈𝘯𝘫𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘍𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘩-𝘦-𝘜𝘳𝘥𝘶 𝘈𝘥𝘢𝘣 Doha (Qatar) Award, Gold Medal by Moscow State University for Literary Achievements, 𝘚𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘢-𝘪-𝘐𝘮𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘻 (Star of Excellence) in Literature by the President of Pakistan (2017), 𝘒𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘭-𝘦-𝘍𝘶𝘯 𝘈𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 (Lifetime Achievement Award) (2022), shared with Ashu Lal Faqeer, but he (Mustansar Hussain Tarar) refused to take “half award”.