Mahmood Ahmad Qazi is a known fiction writer who has to his credit a few books of short stories and some translations from the western literature into Urdu. His unusual short stories have been published in the top literary magazines of the country over the decades. The collections of short stories are called Sultanat and Tilla Jogian Jadeed; he hasn’t tried his hands at novel so far.

Qazi has been an active part of the leftist factions and trade union activities as fighting against injustice and inequality came naturally to him. He must have witnessed a lot in his life and a memoir was due but he decided to come up with a book on Gujranwala, the city which runs in his veins. It’s a city in which his family has lived for more than a century and therefore the book can be summed up as its cultural history.

Ye Gujranwala Hai is a befitting tribute to the city by one of its sons. Mahmood Ahmad Qazi briefly describes the history of Gujranwala and busts a few myths. Then comes the turn of many known and unknown people of the city who tried to make the city worth living with their contribution in diverse fields. He is all praise for classical music wizard Ustad Jhanday Khan who composed the music of famous film Chetar Lekha. He was originally from Jammu but passed the later part of his life in Gujranwala. Naushad, claims the author, was also a pupil of Ustad Jhanday Khan.

In the 1950s, another singer and music buff Latif Dar started a music academy in the city which helped arrange many musical programmes and other related activities in the city. Mahmood Qazi does not forget those who mastered other art forms like painting, dance, films etc. He briefly recreates what cinema going was like a few decades ago and how many cinemas were operating in Gujranwala before the partition.

Tea Room, located on the platform of Gujranwala Railway Station, used to be the watering hole of poets, fiction writers, political birds, leftist and trade union leaders and a few other mavericks. It was here that he along with his friends debated everything under the sun for long hours. There were some weird and funny characters that he has described with a tinge of nostalgia.

There were some who were strictly opposed to the ideology that Qazi used to adhere. But the author made good friends with some of these people by respecting each other’s ideologies. He remembers passionately the likes of Dr Inam Saeed, Ayub Musalli, Dildar Pervez Bhatti, Iftikhar Malik, Jamshed Sahi, Rafiq Chaudhry, Manzoor Chaudhry, Arshad Mir, Akhtar Husain Jafri, Akbar Hameedi, Ibne Hasan, Shabbar Zaidi, Ansar Ali Ansar and many others. Some of them were Tea Room regulars while the others he met at many other places and tea stalls that he has described in full detail. He has guided the readers to have a quick tour of the city where he passed more than seventy years of his life. He knows its alleys, tea stalls, bookshops, pan kiosks etc. He not only does remember notable writers, poets, political workers of the city but he goes a step further and introduces us to many common people.

So here we see those whom we try to ignore or neglect because they belong to the lowest rungs of society. Qazi has done a great job by focusing on these colourful characters like paan-seller, watchmaker, or a tongay wallah. The author cherishes the memories of these common people as they taught him many things about life.

There is mention of old hospitals and doctors of the city. There is also sentimental look back at some of his school teachers and especially those who left Pakistan in 1947 and migrated to India. Mahmood Ahmad Qazi has also described painfully how the closure of Tea Room dealt a deathblow to the literary and cultural life of the city. Ye Gujranwala Hai shows us glimpses of the city that was. Perhaps this was the best tribute that he has paid to his beloved city.

Ye Gujranwala Hai
Author: Mahmood Ahmad Qazi
Jumhoori Publications
Price: Rs 700
Pages: 317