September 14, 2006

For the past 50 years, Lutfullah Khan has maintained in his house a large museum of sorts, housing an audio library that contains over five thousand recordings. He was recently awarded for his outstanding work, writes Ghazal Asif

Voices of music and poetry, thousands of them, the leading voices of South Asia, preserved and made available for generations to come --- form the substance of a large and unique collection, literally a museum of voices, put together by a single and devoted person.

This is Lutfullah Khan, a passionate collector, well-known for his work in assembling a unique collection. He has also penned his memoirs, which include portion on how he built up his collection through contacts with musicians and writers of repute, in a series of delightful and interesting books. Those who do not have access to the collection can imagine its contents by reading about it.

Khan’s unique contribution was highlighted when a local club recently hosted a ceremony to honour his unique role. The occasion was the fourth Al-Maftah Literary Award, which honoured him this year for his work as a writer and creating Pakistan’s first and foremost audio library.

This award was initiated by Abdullah Al-Maftah. Residing in Qatar, he takes a keen and active interest in the Pakistani literary scene. The award is meant to honour those in the literary community who have not been given due recognition by the larger, more established institutions despite their undeniable service in enriching the fabric of Pakistani culture. According to him, the main purpose of this award is to bring encouragement to these people. The previous three recipients include the eminent poets Anwar Shaoor, Munir Niazi and Fahmida Riaz.

The Vice Chancellor of Karachi University, Dr Pirzada Qasim — himself a noted poet — presided over the ceremony. The editor of the Quetta based Sangat, Dr Shah Mohammed Marri moved the audience by his interesting comments on awards and the politics of awards. The speakers outlined Lutfullah Khan’s services to Pakistani culture. For the past 50 years, he has maintained in his house a large museum of sorts, housing an audio library that contains over five thousand recordings. The voice of almost every Pakistani poet, author, politician, singer, actor and intellectual of note has been painstakingly recorded and preserved for posterity. The author of six books himself; he also has a large collection of books. For well over 50 years, Khan has maintained this museum by himself.

Most enjoyable were the carefully prepared comments made by Lutfullah Khan, who commanded the audiences’ attention in spite of his ninety years. Al-Maftah also announced the recipient of next year’s award, Dr Aslam Farrukhi, one of the leading literary personalities in the country.

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