|
|
|
May 4, 2003
In brief
GOOD physicians are hard to find. One with a healthy sense of humour is even rare. But if you add another quality, that of being being able to write good Urdu prose, to the list of criteria, the number will diminish to a very few. Dr Syed Aslam belongs to this rarest of the rare category. One could read his books — he has several to his credit, including Qalb and Aafiyat — for the sheer pleasure of reading excellent Urdu prose. His deft use of the language reflects the enriching influence of classical Persian and Urdu literatures, both poetry and prose, of which he has been a lifelong voracious reader.
As for the subject matter of all his writings, one may easily conclude that he is out to reduce the number of his patients by advocating a healthy lifestyle. All the articles in the book under review emphasize common sense solutions to common but serious ailments in urban society such as coronary diseases caused by an unhealthy lifestyle. In fact health awareness for the middle-class urban people is the thrust of all his columns and articles, which he writes for different newspapers and periodicals as well as the books he has penned.
Writing about serious ailments, the doctor explains that most of these problems are totally unwarranted as they are not caused by natural reasons but the unhealthy lifestyle so happily adopted by most of us. Dr Aslam seems genuinely surprised at how people can be so ignorant and insensitive about their own well-being as to deliberately cause problems for themselves that they can easily avoid by leading a simpler and healthier life.
The point stressed and elaborated by Dr Aslam in all his work leads to a very significant conclusion about the national health scene. As a developing nation, we seem to be wasting a large part of our meagre resources on treating the ailments which could be avoided by adopting a frugal lifestyle, at the expense of the more pressing healthcare needs of the majority of our population. Dr Aslam is of the well-founded opinion that our resources would be better spent on raising awareness of the population about preventive medicine.
And this does not only go for a “third world” country like Pakistan. Dr Aslam quotes an experienced American heart surgeon to reveal that even the United States, which cannot afford to treat all its heart patients, and the saner medical community is of the considered view that the most judicious use of its resources would be the avoidance of these diseases by spreading awareness about them.
Being a keen observer of illogical superstitions, Dr Aslam touches upon a wide range of topics to inculcate among his readers a healthy approach towards life.— Ajmal Kamal
Beemar ka Haal Achha Hai (collection of articles)
By Dr Syed Aslam
Manshoorat-i-Abjad, Room 15, Sixth Floor, Doctors’ Tower, Rimpa Plaza, M. A. Jinnah Road, Karachi
Tel: 7725051, 5835319
286pp. Rs100
FREE expression of emotions in appropriate idiom is what one expects from a poet. Free verse is one such form and so is prose- poetry in which adherence to a set of metre or rhyme is not necessary. But when one attempts to compose a ghazal, he/she must comply with the metre and the rhythm. The ghazals in the collection Dhund Aur Tum fail to meet this criterion.
However, in her very first attempt at writing poetry Shaz has done well in giving free expression to her emotions in simple words. She also employs popular images. Despite a few lapses, her poetry is genuine, devoid of frills and artificial adornment. She should mature, if she is encouraged to write more.— HA
Dhund Aur Tum (collection of poems)
By Shaz
Self published
88pp. Rs75
|
|
|
|
