Daily Statesman 09/02/2004

(Dalta Ghruna Na Dee Hask)

By Mohammad Zarin Anzore                     

Distributors: Afghan Cultural and Development Organization (Germany)

Reviewed by Dr Yaseen Iqbal Yousafzay

Daily Statesman 09/02/2004: The skill of good writing is something very natural and therefore it is difficult to weigh and quantify the talents of a good writer. However, for an ordinary reader, the main factors that make a short story attractive include its readability, sequential progression, theme consistent with time and space (or may be evergreen), and a natural taste to attract a reader again and again. The limitations of this genre allow writers to ignore long details and logics but simultaneously demand the creation of an open window for the reader to make him think further. Most of our scholars agree that Pukhto prose is less developed than its poetry counterpart but fortunately we do not feel short of great writers with proven expertise in this field. Novel or novelette is rather new to Pukhto and novelettes like Nateeja-i-Ishq and  Kunda Jeenai (the young widow) of Rahat Zakheli are considered the first Pukhto novelettes but in spite of its young age, who can forget the great novel “Peghla” of Sahibzada Mohammad Idrees and “Gul Khan” of Dr. S. Z. Taizi?

Along with many other unfortunate and worse consequences, the continuous war in Afghanistan not only forced millions of Afghans to seek refuge in the outside world but scattered its great writers as well. Mohammad Zarin Anzore is one of those great scholars who left their fatherland decades ago but could not forget their land and mother tongue. After migrating to Peshawar from Afghanistan, he proceeded to Germany. As discussed by Mohammad Ismaeel Yun in his preface to the book under review, Mr. Anzore did not participate in literary activities for almost five years that naturally caused a worry among Pukhto lovers who could not even think of loosing such a great talent in the busy streets of the West. Who could imagine that great talents never fade with changing weathers but fabricate the alien environments to suit to their aims and destinations? So after those long five years, great Anzore appeared as the founder of one of the world leading literary organization “The Afghan Cultural and Development Organization, Koln, Germany”. This organization is not only devoted to publishing many books every year but regularly organizes international conferences on various issues concerning Pukhto, Pukhtuns and Afghanistan.

Mr. Anzore, a qualified journalist, has established his name as one of the top short story writers of Pukhto. Dalta Ghruna Na Dee Hask (Our mountains are not that high) is his fifth collection with 15 short stories themed at various political, social and cultural issues.

Obviously, his deep understanding of socio-political problems of the war torn Afghanistan is dominant in most of his stories but some of his stories equally reveal that Mr. Anzore has digested, presented and compared the eastern and western perception of issues in a consistent manner. The close touch of Pukhtun village life and deep observation of the western street make his stories very interesting. In one of his stories “GULOONA GOODAROONA”, he takes his reader to see that how mercilessly a husband kills his wife in the East for a minor misunderstanding leaving his lonely child orphan but in the West, a husband doesn’t even mind rather far greater and sensitive issues, and how joyfully an ex-husband entertains himself in a function organized by his ex-wife for her third marriage with another person after leaving him. Stories like “DOLE DA KALI SANDARBOLE” and “ROGHTOON” prove Mr. Anzore’s successful sketching of cultural scenes with a weighed content of humor in a natural way. He has chosen and organized every bit (i.e. characters, names and language) of the stories so intelligently that every word of it appears very natural and a reader cannot pass by unimpressed. The stories are very skillfully decorated with cultural colors gathered from the East and West. The author has not only objected our blind extremism but has also blamed our miscalculation of issues and values in an artistic manner. Being such a sensitive scholar, gone through all the sufferings of his homeland and living with daily hardships of refuge, a single bit of emotionality cannot be found in his whole book. His analysis is very balanced which makes him one of the great writers of Pukhto short story.

Every story of this book is so distinct and attractive that after reading each one a reader cannot wait to leave the next for tomorrow. Hope Pukhto readers/speakers will enjoy reading “Dalta Ghruna Na Dee Hask” and analyse the scope of Pukhto short story in accommodating the real issues of our real world.