Like his writing, Mushtaq Yusufi’s style of guidance is subtle yet striking’
Karachi:17 October :The 7th International Urdu Conference will be mentioned with reverence in literary history because of the fact that Mushtaq Ahmad Yusufi broke with life-long tradition and, for the first time in his life, allowed a launching ceremony for his work ‘Shaam-e-Shair-e-Yaaran’.
In the words of Anwar Maqsood, everybody who knows Yusufi is luckier than him. “I say that because Mushtaq Ahmad Yusufi lives in the era of one or the other political party. But we live in the era of Yusufi,” he said while quoting the words uttered by Dr Zaheer Fatehpuri.
Yusufi’s fifth work to be published after a gap of 25 years, the book also offers a glimpse into the great writer’s childhood, which had never been seen before in his writings. It comprises 21 essays penned down at various stages in the author’s life.
This was not the only facet of Yusufi’s life, which came to the fore on the occasion. His life and his character shone through a quite intimate essay written and read by a renowned artist who claimed to owe his whole life to the great author’s guidance.
Shahid Rassam, who has recently been commissioned to draw a portrait of Pope Francis by the Vatican, walked the audience through his relationship with Yusufi and how it developed over the years, from being that of a mentor and his student to more like that of a father and son.
“Like his writing, Yusufi sahab’s style of giving guidance is also very subtle yet striking,” he said. “I have learnt the art of subtlety, restraint and slowly moulding my work to its best form from Yusufi sahab.”
Rassam recalled in his essay that once he had been feeling dejected after hearing criticism of his work, and Yusufi’s simple yet poignant words to him were: “A person should pursue his goals like a horse drives a cart full of people behind him: with the blinders on and eyes on nothing but the goal.”
On another occasion, Rassam was kicked out of a dignitary’s house without payment a day before Eid after he had finished a painting he had been asked to make.
He went to Yusufi and told him about it, and the writer simply handed him a book and told him to read about the personal lives of great leaders.
Rassam, quite perplexed, came back home and kept the book aside. But when he opened it a little while later, he found an envelope containing Rs5,000.
His voice cracked and his eyes watered when he talked about Yusufi’s better half, whom he lovingly used to address as Idrees Begum, and his care for her when she had been battling cancer.
He ended his essay by saying that he owed everything – his success and his character – to the guidance and mentorship of the great author while praying for his long life.The news.
