Mustansar Hussain Tarar is a master craftsman, when he writes, the words he uses speak themselves what they stand for, the usual meaning takes a different stance look glossier, lively, deep and sensuous.
KHAS O KHASHAK ZAMANAY his latest novel published this year is another feather in his illustrious career as novelist. The story is so skillfully told using all new and old techniques- fantasy, stream of consciousness, magical realism just to say literary techniques, otherwise the craftsmanship used is also of a master architect, a master painter and a master sculptor. One is gripped all time, one cannot miss a single sentence, and you cannot afford to miss a single line when Tarar writes.
The story runs in a wide landscape of time and space. Past, present and future work as three dimensions of time in the story, past is never past and future is never future, past is always running parallel with future and future parallel with past in the whole story, whereas the reader is always aware that he is present in the story, in the NOW.
The very first page inspires the reader where following dedication appears:
DEDICATED TO ATTAR'S BIRDS AND NEW ADAM
The story starts in a village in pre -partition Punjab, and then spreads and develops after independence in Lahore, taking note of all important political and social events, like martial laws, 1965 war, 1971 war and fall of Dacca. The story takes a new high after 9/11 when Afghanistan and Iraq are devastated.
The final chapters of the story are classic example of how an artist can use his historic heritage and rise to glorifying heights. Tarar uses Attar’s metaphor of thirty birds in search of a king where the birds eventually find themselves. Here Tarar’s character in search of truth finds a new Adam…
Book published by Sang e meel Publications.
Pages 740
Year of Publication 2010
