Paig̲h̲ām Āfāqī ('آفاقى، پيغام or پيغام آفاقى), also written Paigham Afaqi pr Paigham Afaqui ' is the literary name of Akhtar Ali Farooquee , an Indian writer, known particular for his Urdu novels and short stories.
Paigham Afaqui was born in 1956 in Chanp village of Siwan district in Bihar in a farmer’s family. He did his schooling from his home town and did his B.A. Hons (English Literature) and M.A. History from the Aligarh Muslim University. He appeared in IAS examination in 1976 and worked in various important capacities in the Delhi Police and also as Principal of the Police Training College.
While in school some of his poems were published in newspapers and periodicals. While in university his short stories and poems were published in Aahang, tehrik, Aajkal and other literary magazines. He was also Secretary, Literary Society of Aligarh Muslim University in 1975-76 and played significant role in boosting fiction writing among students. A remarkable number of writers like Ghazanfer, Syed Mohd Ashraf, Tariq Chhatari, Ibne Kanwal, Ghyasur Rehman and poets like Farhat Ehsas, Obeid siddiqui, Mehtab Naqvi belong to this period. Most of them were either directly or indirectly influenced by senior writers Qazi Abdus Sattar and Shahryar. Paigham Afaqui has been a student of renowned historian Irfan Habib.
Paigham Afaqui's name as a writer came in eminence after publication of his novel Makaan in 1989 which was widely reviewed in Urdu and English. His two other books: 'Mafia', a collection of short stories and 'Darinda': a collection of poems were also acclaimed.
A single novel MAKAAN made Paigham Afaqui the most celebrated fiction writer in India. 'Cop's novel makes waves' - reported The Hindustan Times. No Urdu novel ever created such a tremor in literary & intellectual circles alike. This novel re-generated fiction writing not only in Urdu but in English as well - no novelist, including the... much acclaimed English writers like Vikram Seth and Arundhati Roy or the Gyan Peeth Winner Quratul Ain Haider ever commanded such wide respect in media and intelligentsia and was ever given such a coverage by national press surpassing all differences and doubts. There was not a single national newspapers which remained behind in celebrating the emergence of a literary genius. Even much before the novel was translated in English & Hindi it was already a highly respected novel. MAKAAN made Paigham Afaqui to Delhi what Albert Camus had been to France and Kafka had been to Germany. This novel finished the era of 'jadidiat' in Urdu fiction and turned Urdu novel into a tool of creative thinking rather than flat narrative of the earlier era. thus raising the level of Urdu fiction to unprecedented height of originality and creative excellence.
For a job he appeared in the Union Public Service Commission and qualified for all the services but being underage he was offered police service. He was posted in Andaman & Nicobar Islands where he remained at various places for four years. Since 1984 he is in Delhi Police where he has served in the fields of district police administration, airport security, public safety, police training, anti-corruption and crime investigation.
While in the university he published short stories in literary magazines like Aahang, Aajkal, Tehrik. In the university he was Secretary of University Literary Club, AMU, Aligarh. In 1989 he published his first major novel Makan. In 1990 he founded Indian Academy of Fiction. In 1994 he was involved in the making of a TV serial in which he familiarized himself in film making and made many other TV programs. He gives talks on film making to the students of Mass Media in Jawaharlal Nehru University. In 1996 he developed software for writing scripts and founded Screenplay House.
In 1994-95 he was Secretary, Crescent Education Society that runs a number of schools in Delhi. In 1997 he was Vice-President of AMU Old Boy’s Association, Delhi. During this period he also wrote a variety of philosophical books and articles of literary and social nature. He has been reading short stories on All Indian Radio and participating in its discussion. He has been usually appearing in literary programs of Bazm and Kahkashan on National Tele-vision.
His novel Makan is considered a beacon in the present scenario of Urdu fiction. Besides Makan, his major achievement is a literary movement for revival of contemporariness and nativity In Urdu novel and fiction. He is on the panel of directors of IGNOU for making programs for Mass Education.
He is considered one of the most eminent writers and poets in modern Urdu and has contributed it as a trendsetter.
He has been prominently profiled and interviewed by |English national dailies and journals like Hindustan Times, Times of India, Pioneer, National Herald, Patriot, Tribune, Mid-Day and Link and numerous Hindi and Urdu dailies and journals. He has delivered talks in JNU on Film making as regular panelist, and makes regular appearance on TV channels: DD-1, DD-2, E-TV, Jain TV, City-TV etc.
Paigham Aafaqi has worked on varioue designations; such as:
- Secretary, University Literary Club, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh 1975-76
- Chairman;Fiction Academy, Delhi, involved in the study of quality and utility of film,TV and written fiction and its impact on society.
He has won various awards such as:
- Firoz Gandhi Memorial Award
- Urdu Academy, UP First Award for Book
- Urdu Academy, Govt. of Delhi : Award For Contribution to Fiction
- Millennium Award for Fiction : Jamia Urdu, Aligarh
He has written the following books;
- Novel MAKAAN
- Novel PALEETA
- Short Stories MAFIA
- Poetry DARINDA
An exaggerated review. Though Afaqui might be credited with writing on something that was not said or discussed before in Urdu literature. In terms of ideological statements it does not cut much ice nor does it investigate the modern temper which could suggest the relationship of the character and the time.
ReplyDeleteI have reviewed the novel Makaan ( Post Modernism and Urdu fiction) in the inaugural edition of Urdu Today. The journal is bilingual and the maiden issue is dedicated to the memory of Wahab Ashrafi.
ReplyDeletePlz aapke pas paiggam aafaki k bare me jo b written infomation hai..muje ap vo de sakte hai...muje research me madad milegi.....plz
DeleteMr Afroz Ashrafi seems to be a bit disappointed because he looks at Makaan from Post Modernist angles only. But Makaan is a totally non-conformist and 'out of the box' novel. It has crossed all boundaries of Modernist and Post Modernist vision of fiction. It is seen as a novel that liberates minds from all 'conditioning' and 'demanding' philosophy and that is exactly it's philosophy. It was widely appreciated in Delhi literary circles ( of Urdu,Hindi and English) that this novel demands an entirely new approach of critical evaluation. Saying that this novel is important in Urdu is a wrong observation. 1n 2012 the National Endowment for Arts United States), the highest literary body of US has selected as one among the great novels from around the world for it's re-translation to English for the people of US.
ReplyDelete"In terms of ideological statements it does not cut much ice nor does it investigate the modern temper which could suggest the relationship of the character and the time." This is a post modernist approach. Every writer will not abide to this literary theory.
ReplyDeleteCreative writings under influence of Post Modernist philosophy of truth are done in conformity with the temper of time. Conformity to the temper of time gives Post Modernist writing certificate of truth and validity. But Makaan is different.
ReplyDeleteIt boldly differs from the temper of time as an alien entity but at the same time hits it and succeeds in changing the temper of time in the realm of it’s actions. It generates it’s own temper.
Unless this is understood the international value and greatness of Makaan cannot be understood and people like Firoze Ashrafi will keep on thinking that Makaan is about some ‘theme’ which had not been taken up in Urdu before.
Makaan is indeed a novel of international importance by virtue of it's originality to the extent of being non-conforming to the even most dominating literary theories of Post Modernism.
Novel Makaan now happens to be only novel (or for that matter a creative work) from Urdu or any language of the sub-continent select as one one the greatest works from around the globe for Fellowsip of translation to US English (first translation already exists for last 10 years)by National Endowment for Arts, Govt of US in 2012. It is also ranked as one of the most representative novel of Feminism. In a way this is first Urdu novel that has made of proud by emerging on international scene as an original work in terms of philosophy and technique. Though it has been claimed to represent feminist image of woman, it is only because it was first novel to treat woman as a complete human being but the novel has treated MAN itself differently from what it was seen earlier. It is now ranked among five most important novel in Hindi as reflected in a survey among schools and colleges in India (the students recommend it for reading as a good 'Hindi'novel - having read it's Hindi transliteration.)
ReplyDelete“I write differently from what I speak, I speak differently from what I think, I think differently from the way I ought to think, and so it all proceeds into deepest darkness.”
ReplyDelete― Franz Kafka
Makaan is a novel that explores inside of the character and causes its growth. To see it from the limited ideological lens of post- modernism is a wrong approach. Many eminent critics have already admitted that Paigham Afaqui's writings do not conform to the critical approaches of progressives or modernists or post-modernists. And here lies the greatness of this novel
“A book must be the axe for the frozen sea within us.”
ReplyDelete― Franz Kafka
THAT is what MAKAAN is.
یاد رفتگاں بیاد بیدار مغز اردو فکشن نگار و سخنور پیغام آفاقی مرحوم
ReplyDeleteاحمد علی برقی اعظمی
ہیں سبھی پیغام آفاقی کے غم میں سوگوار
زیبِ تاریخ ادب ہیں جن کے ادبی شاہکار
اردو فکشن میں تھی ان کی ذات فخر روزگار
تھے ’’ پلیتہ ‘‘ اور ’’ مکاں ‘‘ ناول کے وہ تخلیق کار
ان کے سینے میں دھڑکتا تھا دلِ درد آشنا
ان کے افسانے ہیں عصری کرب کے آئینہ دار
ان کے افسانوں کا مجموعہ بنامِ ’’ مافیا‘‘
ندرتِ فکر و نظر کرتا ہے ان کی آشکار
ان کا نظم و نثر میں تھا منفرد طرزِ بیاں
شعری مجموعہ ’’ درندہ بھی ہے ان کا شاہکار
ضوفشاں ہیں ان کی تخلیقات مثلِ ماہتاب
بحر ذخارِ ادب کی تھے وہ دُرِ شاہوار
عہدِ حاضر کے تھے برقی وہ ادیبِ زندہ دل
جن کے ہیں مداح اقصائے جہاں میں بیشمار
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ReplyDelete