His admirers say Asif Farrukhi, a public health physician and noted writer and critic, is a genie, doing a whole lot of things at once and still eager to do more — on the literary front.

Though he has devoted much of his time and energy to his medical practice, which he describes as his bread and butter, he is in the process of publishing a seventh volume of short stories and already has a collection of essays to his credit - a second one is around the corner. He is the editor of a literary magazine, Dunyazad, contributes columns to this newspaper and various journals, translates from Urdu into English and vice versa and exchanges ideas and practicable suggestions with several senior writers.

Asif, however, downplays his literary achievements, saying many people younger than him have done much more than he has.

In an interview with Dawn, when he is mentioned as a big achiever, he says “No, no.... I have done nothing extraordinary. ... Quratul Ain was quite young when she finished her masterpiece Aag ka darya and tossed it off to proceed on her illustrious literary journey. And look at the hefty collection of Manto's short stories and their quality,” he says and adds “We live in a mediocre era when nothing significant is being written. And even the work of a person like me stands out.”

He even denies that he is a well-organised person “Not at all! I'm an impulsive person. I do not work with meticulous planning. Nor do I follow a daily routine. Only weekends remind me that I'm a writer, too,” he says and adds “You may call me a weekend writer.”

Asked if his literary activities interfered with his professional work, he says no. “I believe both activities reinforce each other. I see no contradiction between the two,” he says and adds “Reading and writing is a vocation in our society. But I think we should do something practical also for the welfare of society we live in. And through my profession, I believe I'm playing an active part for the betterment of the people.

“I consider myself a development worker and am happy about it. Besides, I believe literature is also a means of development.”

Asked when he came to literature, he says “I didn't come to literature. When I grew up, I was already in it. It was a natural part of my growing up. I didn't have to make any conscious decision. ... The atmosphere at our home was highly literary. My father is a scholar and writer and all his acquaintances were literary people. My grandfather was also a writer and wrote many books and stories for children.

“My uncle, Anwar Ahsan Siddiqui, is also a well-known poet. My mother is a niece of Shahid Ahmed Dehlavi's and a grand-daughter of Bashiruddin Ahmed, son of Deputy Nazeer Ahmed .... there is a long list of names. It seems something has continued in me. Almost like a genetic disorder! It was not something I had to start. I'm trying to live up to the tradition of my predecessors, my forefathers.”

Among his literary mentors, he mentions Ghulam Abbas, Saleem Ahmed and M.H. Askari, who encouraged him in his initial writing efforts.

He is a great admirer of Russian fiction writers, particularly Chekhov, followed by Latin American writers Borges and Marquez among the modernists. His local favourites include Intizar Hussain, Nayyar Masood, Hassan Manzar and Asad Mohammed Khan.

Asif Farrukhi recalls that when he was an intermediate student he met renowned writer Ismat Chughtai, who after learning about his interests told him “Make literature your sweetheart, not your wife.” He says he was a little embarrassed by her frank and open conversation. But having already read her short stories, he was aware of what she meant.

“And an obvious meaning of it was that one should not be dependent on literature for a living and adopt it only as a hobby,” he adds. “I have avoided being forced to teach or write when I do not want to. I cherish this independence.”

Born in Karachi on September 16, 1959, Asif Aslam was a brilliant student of St Patrick's High School. Appearing from D.J. Science College, he bagged the first position in the intermediate (pre-medical) examination. He did his MBBS from Dow Medical College in 1984, taught at a private medical university and went onto Harvard University in the United States to specialise in public health. He is naturally proficient in English, but he chose Urdu as his basic medium of expression.

“When I started writing short stories, I thought Urdu was the most suitable language for what I wanted to convey to the readers, though I do translations in English and write one thing or another in English off and on.” He is the co-editor of Fault Lines, an anthology of short fiction woven around 1971 from Bangladesh and Pakistan, published from Dhaka last year.

Asked about the frequency of publication of the literary book series Dunyazad, launched in 2000, with each issue planned as an anthology, he says that when he gathers enough material for it, he brings out a new issue. “I try to introduce a new writer or poet in its each issue. I believe new talents need to be encouraged, but I do not do it at the cost of quality. I encourage only those people who show potential and promise.” Duniyazad's special issues included the themes of terrorism, Palestine, Afghanistan and the 2005 earthquake.

He is concerned about the shrinking readership for Urdu books and thinks that various organisations have not taken up this issue seriously. “Whereas it is easy to criticise government departments for their inactivity in this connection, which I love to do, as individuals we should ask ourselves what we have done to help stop this fall.”

His books include Aatish fishan par khilay gulab, Ism-i-Azam ki talash, Cheezain aur loag, Main shakh say kiyon toota, Aik adami ki kami, which are collections of short stories. A collection of literary essays is titled Aalam eijad. Some of his books have been translated into various foreign languages.

Asif Farrukhi, who started writing with poetry, also has a collection of poems to his name titled Iss waqt tau yoon lagta hai. He has translated and compiled An evening of caged beats in collaboration with Prof Frances Pritchett, focusing on seven post-modernist poets. His translations include that of the Sindhi poetry of Shaikh Ayaz, which he did in collaboration with noted writer Attiya Dawood.

In 1995, he won the Prime Minister's Award for the best book of the year for his translations from Latin American literature, published as Maut aur qutub numa.

Recently he was awarded the Tamgha-i-Imtiaz in recognition of his literary services.