A working woman has chosen to record the experiences she underwent during government service. She has a justification for it; she is doing this for the benefit of those young women who are at the threshold of starting their careers. She wants to let them know what kind of situations, pleasant and unpleasant, are awaiting them. They are required to have courage to face the problems a male-dominated professional field may create for them.

This seasoned working woman is Kishwar Naheed, who is primarily known to us as a poet with a number of verse collections to her credit. But poetry can hardly be a full-time activity for a female writer who wants to live in accordance with her concept of a liberated life. But a liberated female life brings in its wake its own trials and tribulations.

As expected, after venturing into a marriage of her own choice, Kishwar found herself pushed into a male-dominated professional world struggling to earn a livelihood. Seeing that she was not behaving as an obedient servant of her supervisor, she was, as she tells us, warned; “Listen, you are not expected to behave as a poet here. You should know that you are a petty official of the 18th grade.” She felt anguish at working under the hostile gazes of so many men, ranging from the petty officer asserting as himself as her boss to the highly-placed bureaucrat behaving like a demi-god. Of course, at times they were friendly, but their looks betrayed their evil intentions.

Kishwar, in the early years of her service, was associated with the department on a position to oblige writers who liked to write for the journal Pak Jamhooriat. A writer who chose to write in praise of the Dictator was paid Rs200 per column. Less valued articles were paid Rs50 to Rs20.

Bureaucrat writers, such as Qudratullah Shahab and Mustafa Zaidi, commanded much respect in our literary circles and a publisher and his likes were always ready to arrange evenings in their honour. Such was the era of Ayub Khan. As for the era of Z.A. Bhutto, it did bring a big change. Kishwar, in spite of being a government servant, was among those writers who supported and worked for his party. She was duly rewarded and was upgraded to the position of director of the Pakistan National Centre.

But this era also brought Maulana Kausar Niazi into the fore and recognised as a poet. Kishwar has written about the event held at the Pakistan National Centre in honour of the Maulana where a large number of leading writers were present to pay rich compliments to him as a renowned poet of his time. But the renowned poet, enjoying his authority as a minister, suspended Kishwar and Ahmad Faraz. But the two enjoyed the support of Pir Ali Mohammad Rashdi who pleaded their case in Bhutto’s presence who readily ordered the reinstatement of “both the noble writers of Pakistan.”

Kishwar regrets that Benazir had no taste for the arts and no interest in culture. “I and Shehnaz,” she says, “tried hard to get a grant for a proposed art gallery, but every time she flatly refused to oblige us. Eventually a military dictator extended a grant to us for this purpose. ”

Retirement from service brought for Kishwar a sense of relief. She now feels free to embark on long journeys responding eagerly to calls from distant lands. Each land seems to offer her new experiences.

While in Pakistan Kishwar very much likes to meet political figures and develop a dialogue with them. Such are her hobbies. She is an extrovert and gives the impression that she has no inner being to turn to. Wherever she goes, be it Delhi or London, she manages to have a get together with all those known to her living there. That is why she grows nostalgic when recalling the good old days of Lahore. How sweetly she remembers Jamila Hashmi and Hijab Imtiaz Ali as they were the ideal hosts, ever ready to welcome guests at their residences.

What about the dreary days we are now living in? Kishwar has been able to find at least one residence up to the mark. Asghar Nadeem Syed and his wife Sheeba have all the qualifications to make a good host. As for Delhi, she can always rely on Shamim Hanafi as a host well able to provide for her the company of friends of her liking and on Saba Bhabi who can at short notice provide for her a dilliwalla dastarkhwan. This is what Kishwar Naheed ki Note Book, published by Sang-e-Meel, tells us about her. She has already some autobiographical writings to her credit but in this book she has come out with her life experiences in a remarkably bolder way. The recollections of days gone by as recorded here appear vibrant with a deep sense of loss.