Writer Mustansar Hussain Tarar spoke to students at an event ‘Writer on campus- Bazm-i-Fikr-o-Nazar’ held at the Forman Christian College on Tuesday.
Tarar, who is the host of the Pakistan Television’s morning show, Subah Bakhair, as well as an actor, novelist and columnist, chooses to describe himself as an awaragard (wanderer).
About his affiliation with the college, Tarar said he considered it an honour to have the opportunity to address students. The auditorium was packed with fans jostling to get closer to the stage. Tarar encouraged them to ask critical questions but told them to steer clear of the subject of religion. “It is not that I don’t want to talk about religion,” he said, “but you will not be pleased with what I have to say.”
He said he was pleasantly surprised by the recitation from the Holy Bible after recitation from the Holy Quran. “It is gestures like these that promise hope in these trying times,” he said.
He spoke about his love for beauty and his becoming a writer ‘accidently’. He said he had started writing in the 1950s after his visit to a youth festival in Moscow. Tarar has over 40 books to his credit of which about 20 are travelogues.
Having enjoyed fame as a writer, Tarar said he enjoyed the popularity that came with being on TV but he never took it seriously. “Writing has always been my true asset and I am aware of that,” he said.
His writing had annoyed many accomplished writers, he said. “They did not think I was worthy to jump onto their bandwagon,” said Tarar. He discussed strong female characters in his stories, “When I depict a woman in my story, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that I become one,” he said. This was essential to ensure an accurate depiction, he said.
“Whether it is a woman or a landscape, I have always fancied beauty,” Tarar said. He said all his writings had been inspired by beauty and that he had been criticised for that. Further, he said, all his writings had been autobiographical or based on personal interests.
Tarar narrated anecdotes from early years of his career when he would be called a ‘miraasi’ for participating in the performing arts. “Our society is incapable of accepting a multitalented person without restricting him to a dimension,” he said. Tarar said he had faced much resistance to having his work accepted in different genres of writing, acting and hosting television shows.
“I have never worked a 9 to 5 job because I cannot mould myself to please anyone else,” he said. He said working a routine job makes one susceptible to accepting things the way they are presented without question. “This is why I prefer calling myself an awaragard, someone who is free to explore his own terms and form his own opinions,” he said. He said his writing depicted his own thoughts and was never dictated.
“I have been one of the few lucky Urdu writers who were not only on good terms with their publishers but also bestselling authors,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 13th, 2013.