Kamal Ahmed Rizvi has now come out with a collection of selected episodes from his popular television serial, Alif aur Noon, published under the same title. The volume includes 46 skits picked out from the long serial. They are full of humour and satire and Kamal likes to call them tamseelchay.

From the beginning of his career, Kamal has oscillated between different roles connected with theatre - play writing, acting, direction. And in each role he has performed well. At one time he was associated with the stage both as an actor and as a director, and also as a playwright when the occasion demanded. But in our society, serious theatre could not make headway. So with the start of television, many involved with theatre migrated from the stage to the television screen. They found themselves fortunate to be exposed to a large audience who was responding well to their art.

While Kamal's achievements on stage have a great value from the viewpoint of art, when seen in comparison to his immense popularity as a television artist, they pale into insignificance. The serial Alif aur Noon, which has been reproduced here as dramatic writing, is a case in point. The script was written by Kamal. He also appeared in the role of the character Allan while Rafi Khawar played Nanna. When these two accomplished actors appeared on the PTV screen, they took the viewers by storm. Agha Nasir, who was the director of this serial, has complimented Kamal for writing such pithy dialogues, steeped in rich humour. Humorists so often resort to vulgarity. But here is humour without that blemish, an entertainment of high order.

Moreover, the entertainment carries something more with it. Professor Karrar Husain could tell you about it. At the inaugural ceremony of the first volume of Alif aur Noon, the esteemed scholar had delivered a speech which has been included here as a preface to the present volume. This serial was described by him as a social comedy which is very different from romantic comedy, rather opposite to it.

Romanticism, he says "is a kind of self-delusion. It has gone deep in the body of our society and has turned into a malady. What we need most is the capability of being self-critical. In fact, self-criticism is the basis of social criticism." And he adds that "social comedy provides us a mirror in which we can see our faces."

So these twins Allan and Nanna, while provoking us to laugh, and laugh heartily, offer to us a mirror. And what a clear mirror it is. Every blemish, every black spot is reflected in it, in minute details.

If this is so, our laughter at the behaviour of these characters is very meaningful. Allan is a fraud. He is always planning to deceive people and get money from them. Nanna is a fool, an idiot. In his foolishness he betrays the real motives behind Allan's cleverly planned schemes. And so Allan is exposed.

In this way, Allan and Nanna serve as a mirror for us all. Allan is no stranger to us. His scheming, fraudulent ways are well known to us. In our daily life, we often meet him and are deceived by him. He represents what our society is in general known for. So when we laugh at the two, we are laughing at ourselves.

The skits have been so dexterously planned that our whole society, along with its varied characters and manifold aspects, appear to have been summed up in them. We so easily recognise the people around us in these skits. In this manner, these tamseelchay help us come out of our self-delusion and recognise what is wrong with us. They help us gain the kind of maturity which enables us to accept our faults and laugh at our follies.

Kamal well deserves our compliments for portraying the vicious and fraudulent characters in our society so realistically that they come alive for us.