KARACHI, June 6: Speakers at the launch of an autobiography by a veteran teacher at Karachi Gymkhana on Wednesday said the writer had refrained from queuing up with traditional autobiographers and preferred to give a comparative study of the set of values that our ancestors had practised and now had disappeared or become ceremonial.

The book ‘Badaltay Rung’, authored by Anwaar Fatima Jafri, a veteran schoolteacher now living in Canada, as she put it, was a compilation of her memories dating back to her house in the Jhansi town of undivided India, her life in Pakistan and now in Canada.

“The basic purpose of writing this book is to inform our new generation about their origin, the values of their ancestors and importance of relations in the family structure, besides the transfer of observations and experience to them, which I attained during different phases of my life,” said Ms Jafri, who first claimed fame four years ago when she translated Alex Haley’s modern classic `Roots: The Saga of an American Family’.

Prof Sahar Ansari in his keynote speech said the writer had meticulously narrated the past customs, traditions and the way of life, which she witnessed as a child and continued to practise for decades until she realized that the family bond, the exclusive eastern feature in its own flavour of the subcontinent had broken.

He said the writer had used many techniques to present a complete picture of the past and the present and she successfully presented her evidence to the glorious past and gloomy present with inherent fears of ominous future to the future generations of the subcontinent.

Syed Mazhar Jameel said the writer had used all the techniques in one book, which was a rarity in Urdu literature. “At one point one sees drama and on the other a quality piece of fiction is there to enjoy. The readers would also enjoy simple narrations and flavour of a travelogue in different chapters,” he said.

Mehmood Sham said the writer showed her skill in conveying the things to the new generations, which had become history and considered to be fairytales in the present circumstances.

Ambreen Haseeb Amber said the writer had painfully yet successfully written about the joint family system, which was no longer alive. Besides, the love and respect for elders in the past had also diminished in modern society.

Hasan Shaheed Mirza and Mubeen Mirza also spoke.—HM