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Saleem Shahzad —
A Rare Talentat
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Khalid Fateh Muhammad
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The atmosphere of the novel is hair rising. But, by no means it’s a thriller or horror novel but the history, that Shehzad unfolds, is gripping and grotesque.
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Saleem Shehzad is a writer of rare talent: both multi directional and dimensional. So, he wears many hats: a poet and fiction writer moving with ease across Urdu, Punjabi and Seraiki languages. And now, after publishing two novels in Seraiki he turns to Punjabi with his latest novel “Warlap” (Wailing), adding another layer to his literary baggage.
Shehzad has a style of his own, a unique style, be it his poetry or fiction. His two Seraiki novels carry a rare blend of symbolism and hallucination; a mode perfected by Kafka, and, to some extent practiced by Joze Saramogo and Ismail Kadare of Albania. But, with his Punjabi novel “Warlap” Saleem Shehzad goes a step further. And, it unfolds as a fragmented narrative rooted in the decline of social, political, and cultural values that define our society. Also, it is a unique novel which does not have any specific characters and yet they follow a narrative laid out for them by Saleem and, a rarity, that every event is narrated in such a manner that it becomes a character by itself.
Moreover, the atmosphere of the novel is hair rising. But, by no means it’s a thriller or horror novel but the history, that Shehzad unfolds, is gripping and grotesque. And, this history has by no means been fabricated, like the historians or the fiction writers do who write for the gallery, but it’s that history which a common man has lived or is passing through with all the deprivations that elite can force upon him, be it legal injustice or economic strangle hold.
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Saleem Shehzad has minted his own style of fiction writing. Hence, he is not very eloquent yet he is reasonably expressive.
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Also, Saleem Shehzad has minted his own style of fiction writing. Hence, he is not very eloquent yet he is reasonably expressive. And, his selection of words needs special mention. To express their feelings, poets must rely upon terminology borrowed from Persian. Furthermore, the fundamental grammar of Urdu ghazal, itself an Iranian import, imposes structural restrictions. Consequently, poets often resort to vagueness in poems, and this ambiguity acts as a limitation on the vividness of expression.
Conversely, the fiction relies on human relationships and a world constructed or modeled by the author; and for this, the terminology has a wider sphere. Saleem, being a poet also, understands the intricacies of this distinction intimately. Consequently, he is very choosy in selecting the words and terms that are specific to the narrative. Thus, his words do more than convey immediate meaning; they carry the cultural essence of a scene or an incident or the narrative in its totality. He does not deal in words but he makes them speak and this is what Rajinder Singh Bedi did in Urdu or Williiam Faulkner in American fiction — both gave regional dialect, a cultural shape.
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“Warlap” is a better addition to Punjabi novels in its vision, scope and presentation. Hence, the novel will definitely attract readers and critics alike.
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As Shehzad limits himself to the story so he neither makes the reader move in circles nor does he let his imagination wander. But he simply keeps him tied to the story. As we see a technique, although rare but most essential, in a novel because a general opinion is that a novelist can say whatever he wants to irrespective of the frame of his story. But, Saleem Shehzad is very miserly in use of words; selection of pertinent words or phrases is based upon the knowledge of the writer. Moreover, Saleem is well versed with whichever language he is using. So, he endeavors to extracts multiple meanings from the words or phrases that set the tone or have to give a twist to the story.
“Warlap” is a better addition to Punjabi novels in its vision, scope and presentation. Hence, the novel will definitely attract readers and critics alike.
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Khalid Fateh Muhammad
Born on April 19, 1946; Khalid Fateh Muhammad is a renowned and prolific Urdu fiction writer, translator, critic and analyst of Pakistan. He is also known for writing stories of unusual social observation. As he has versatile art of writing, so highly appreciated in the literary circle. Because in his short-stories and novels, he establishes the ideas about social justice, poverty, hunger, thrust, and socio political issues prevalent in the society. Additionally his characters are natural, original and out spoken. Thus, his work got high acclaim from the Urdu critics.
Khalid’s family migrated from Gurdaspur East Punjab and settled in a village of Gujranwala district. While studying in Government College Gujranwala, he joined Pakistan Army. And, after retirement as Major, he settled in Gujranwala Cantt in 1993, and started writing. So far, he has published more than a dozen novels; seven collections of short stories. Furthermore, he has many books of translations from English to Urdu. Also, he publishes a quarterly literary magazine “Adraak”, one of the important Urdu literary journals.