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Dr Amjad matchboxes collector called phillumenist
Q1. Could you give us a brief introduction about yourself? A. Professionally I am a doctor in the field of general practice and nutrition. Q2. Can you give us a little description about your hobby?
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A. I am a matchbox collector called phillumenist and if not wrong the only of its kind in my country. Although worldwide especially in European countries “Phillumenist� clubs are common, and in certain countries a group of phillumenist have merged their collection to establish match museum. Philluminy is a very old hobby and
dates back to 1930s. Q3. You have mentioned yourself that phullimenist are present worldwide, so what is so special about your collection? A. I think my collection standout in the sense that I collect complete
matchboxes with complete set of match sticks while most of the collectors only collect the upper cover of the match boxes. Although my collection in this may become bulky and require special storage but I think you can only appreciate the beauty of these matchboxes if they are in their original form. Q4. Can you give us the detail description of your collection? A. I started collecting these matches in 1971, when the market were flooded with matches from different countries , now I have about 5000 matches from different countries of the world like Spain, Iran, India, China, Korea, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Holland, Sweden. Germany, Egypt, UK, USA, USSR, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Uzbekistan, Canada and Pakistan. Every match is unique but some have a very strong historical background and you can easily relate them to that bygone era. My collections also include book matches of different countries and places some matches were specially made to promote tourism and advertise. Q5. Can you give detail of matches with historical background? A. Although every match carries its own historical background but some have a very strong history and depict a specific era of occasion, I will show some of such matches. “A book match with white background showing name “ JAME.A.YOUNG” this is the personal match of an American General given to me in 1977 in ANKARA, TURKEY, A General was a war hero in article “ The Man Who refuse to Die” was published
in reader digest about him. Two book matches with photos of John F Kennedy commemorating his anniversary in 1977. These were specially made book matches with coupon inside. A set of Spanish matches with picture of its soccer team players of 1972. A set of bulky USSR safety matches of 1972. An American safety match independence of 1972. A book match of United Kingdom, promoting tourism of 1979. An other book match of mother Ship Ton wishing well in UK. A Book Match of Hare Wood House in UK. A Book Match of Saudi Arabia commemorating the allied forces of repulsing attacks by Iraqi forces of Saddam Hussain on Al Khafji. A German match made especially on the occasion of Christmas. A Book Match of Pakistan dating back to 1971 is of the period in Pakistan consisted of west and East Pakistan, because these books match a picture of two cities of each of west and East Pakistan. A safety match of green arrow 1971 shows clearly return made in DHAKA East Pakistan. A green colored safety match of Awan e Sadar of 1972, the era of President Fazal Elahi. Q6. Do you have any future plans for your collection? A. Yes I have , if I can get proper sponsorship and support, then I
intend to hold exhibition , where not only the phillumeny can be introduce to people but my rare, beautiful and unique collection can be shown to people, matches of an era can be shown to the generation before their born. Many historical facts related to these matches will be known to them. Finally if I get a proper support I patronage of any national or international organization then I intend to establish a match museum, where these rare and unique treasure of matches can be saved for the future generation to see.
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Films
Jab Tuk Hai Jaan Yash Chopra’s Last Directorial Venture
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ollywood’s wait was o v e r when the curtains were raised from Yash Chopra’s last directorial venture ‘Jab Tuk Hai Jaan’. In Pakistan IMGC Global along with Lux paid tribute to the legendary director and his work by arranging a premiere in Attrium, Karachi. The ceremony was attended by many socialites, celebrities and big wigs of the town. And for those who haven’t seen this last master piece of Yash Chopra here is a review for all of them: In what world would a beautiful, fabulously rich girl who cruises around London in a chauffeur-driven Bentley fall in love with a waiter? Yash Chopra’s world, of course! It helps enormously that the waiter is played by Shah Rukh Khan with charm turned on high-beam. In any case, you don’t go to a Yash Chopra movie to delve into realism or the messiness of relationships. You go to partake in a fantasy of swooning, idealized love - and Jab Tak Hai Jaan delivers plenty of that. This film has all the elements you would want in a Yash Chopra film gorgeously shot locations in the UK
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and Kashmir, lavish songs and three inherently noble lead characters who struggle gallantly against their individual obligations. Another girl, a feisty filmmaker named Akira (played by Anushka Sharma), comes into his life, but another plot twists then takes him back to London, where his first love (played by Katrina Kaif), awaits.
At one point, when Akira is looking for the Major, she is told, ‘Sir goes for quiet time after defusing a bomb.’ The Major is sitting by the river, singing loudly. The Hurt Locker this certainly isn’t. And yet, despite the wobbly narrative, Jab Tak Hai Jaan works as an ode to epic romance. I didn’t buy into the story, but I bought into the heartfelt performances. All three - Shah Rukh, Katrina and Anushka - are topnotch. And ladies, take note: Shah Rukh is easily Hindi cinema’s most dashing army officer since Balraj Sahni in Haqeeqat, and with this film, he finally breaks his no-kissing rule. You also have to admire his ability to play the romantic hero. We’ve seen him do it for two decades but he still makes it compelling. Jab Tak Hai Jaan is too tangled to transport you. At almost 180 minutes, it also requires enormous patience. But I recommend that you see it. Because only Yash Chopra could make heartache so attractive and ennobling that his characters wear it like a badge of honor.
Books
Of some literary journals Apart from all kinds of literary books, literary magazines and journals have also played a vital role in furthering the cause of literature globally By Syed Afsar Sajid
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odern literature is closely bound up with the new ideas which are agitating the mind of the modern man. It would be observed that the present age was unlike its preceding ones in the realm of literature also. To quote Harold V. Routh, “it (this age) has arisen amid a ferment of inspiring and suggestive ideas; it has brought to the surface a surprisingly large number of really gifted writers; it has assembled an enormous reading public, only too anxious to make the fortune of any author who can hold its attention; likewise an unusually large proportion of sympathetic and discursive critics bent on teaching the reader how to appreciate a genius even before he has proved his quality.” Apart from all kinds of literary books, literary magazines and journals have also played a vital role in furthering the cause of literature globally, on the above lines regardless of their language of communication or socio-cultural milieu. Seep, Zar Nigar and Nigarishatbelong to this category of publications designed to ‘propagate’ nay popularize literature, among others, to the level of an ordinary reader too who is not formally initiated in its delicacies or intricacies. This review envisages a combined critical estimation of these journals.
Seep
Nasim Durrani is among those silent votaries of literature whose
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Seep Editor: Nasim Durrani Publisher: Seep Publications, 418/18, Federal ‘B’ Area, Karachi Pages: 330; Price: Rs.150/-
services to its cause are innumerable. He owns, edits and publishes this magazine which is as old as fortynine years! During all this time he has not flinched from his mission viz., promotion of literary culture in an environment conducive to values that are alien, if not hostile, to literature. In the process, he would seldom compromise on quality of a literary piece. His encouragement of the younger writers has considerably contributed to regenerate the literary creativity in the Urdu world. The current issue of the magazine is a special one comprising a fine miscellany of prose writings encompassing critical essays, short
stories, a novelette, a reportage, an autobiographical montage, memoirs and letters to the editor. Curiously enough, the dust cover of the magazine, designed by the renowned artist Jameel Naqsh, has always carried the image of a pigeon in a medley of related images suggestive of a fine shade of meanings – both factual and metaphorical. Contributios to the instant issue include essays by Dr. Salim Akhtar (on Faiz), Dr. Rashid Amjad (on Ghalib), Amer Sohail (on Ibne Arabi), Dr. Kausar Mahmud (on Rashid Amjad’s short story Lamp Post), Dr. Qur’atul Ain Tahira (on Hafeez Hoshiarpuri’s poem Taaqdeere-InsaN), Sarwar Javed (on Dr. Muhammad Ali Siddiqi’s study of Faiz), Shahid Zuber (on prose poetry), and Qur’atul Ain Tariq (on Parvin Shakir); fiction by Sultan Jamil Nasim, Rashid Amjad, Mirza Hamid Beg, Muhammad Saeed Sheikh, Tahira Iqbal, Shabnam Shakil, Neelum Ahmad Bashir, Farkhanda Shamim, Miraq Mirza, Durdana Nosheen Khan, Feroze Abid, Edison Idrees Masih, Salma Awan and others; memoirs by Nida Faazli and Zafar Sapal; and montage by Jitendra Billu.
Zarnigar
The latest issue of Zia Hussain Zia’s Zarnigar is out but with a slightly changed format. As usual he has succeeded in assimilating a literary pot-pourri of select prose, poetry and fiction in it. The contents include his description of Mu’arif-e-Ghazal; a
Khurram Aleem and Lala Rukh Bukhari; the third instalment of Zia Hussain Zia’s novel Sulb; and a few book reviews by him. The magazine is gradually gaining popularity in the literary circles. However, its proofreading still requires improvement.
Nigarishat
The publication is an illustrated compendium of the proceedings of the three-day Alhamra Almi Adabi Wa Seqafati Conference held at Lahore in April 2010 under the auspices of the Lahore Arts Council. Its ‘preamble’ comprises the prefatory remarks of Ataul Haq Qasmi, Chairman LAC and Zar Nigar Muhammad Ali Baloch, Executive Director LAC, Editor: Zia Hussain Zia followed by a presidential Publisher: Zar Nigar House, Imran Road, Faisalabad address delivered by Mian Pages: 352; Price: Rs.400/Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif, ‘distance’ question-answer session Chief Minister with noted poet and critic Dr. Aslam Punjab at the seminar Ansari; Dr. Anwar Sadeed’s article on the reputed art ‘archaeologist’ commemorating the and researcher, the late Lutfullah 72nd birthday of Allama Iqbal. Khan; Imran Shahid Bhinder’s Besides, the essay on post-modernism et al; Zafar volume carries eight Iqbal’s study of a few verses from sub-heads related to Ghalib; Partau Rohilla’s article Allama Iqbal and on Ghalib’s epistles to Nawab of the 21st century, Rampur; short stories by Neelum the socio-literary Ahmad Bashir, Sofia Bedar, movements of the Munazza Salim, Uzma Naqvi, and Sub-continent, a Tal’at Naureen; ghazal and nazmby contemporary view Zafar Iqbal, Nasim Shaukat Akhgar, of the Pakistani Anwar Sadeed, Bushra Ejaz, Naseer languages, the future Ahmad Nasir, Ashraf Yusufi, Ali of humour and irony Yasir, Riffat Naheed, Uzma Naqvi, in Urdu literature, Jaffar Zia, Muhammad Afsar Sajid, the cultural life of Ayub Khawar, Iqtidar Javed, Fahim Lahore as depicted Shanas Kazmi, Atiqur Rahman, in various memoirs, Anjum Mehru, Karamat Bukhari, recital of some short Lala Rukh Bukhari; Allama Talib stories, obituaries Jauhari, Dr. Jawaz Jafri, Syed Nawab in respect of Faiz, Haider Naqvi, Shahzad Nayyar, Ahmad Nadeem and Masooma Shirazi; critical Qasmi, John Elia, evaluations by Dr. Mirza Hamid Ashfaq Ahmad, Beg, Muhammad Afsar Sajid, Muneer Niazi and
Parvin Shakir, and a few newspaper reviews of the event. Some leading participants in the conference were Shamsur Rahman Faruqi (India), Dr. Javed Iqbal, Dr. Salim Akhtar, Dr. Muhammad Baqai Makan (Iran), Muhammad Sohail Omar, Dr. Nooria Belec (Turkey), Dr. Khalil Tauq Aar (Turkey), Dr. Muhammad Jalal Suidan (Turkey), Dr. Ibrahim Muhammad Ibrahim (Egypt), Ataul Haq Qasmi, Dr. Muhammad Ali Siddiqi, Dr. Sehar Ansari, Oria Maqbool Jan, Shah Muhammad Marri, Dr. Muhammad Qasim Baghio, Dr. Ejaz Anwar, Dr. Tahir Taunsvi, Mustansar Hussain Tarar, Masood Mufti, Muhammad Mansha Yad, Intizar Hussain, Shahzad Ahmad, Kishwar Naheed, Sarmad Sehbai, Abdullah Hossein, Masood Ash’ar, Mahmud Shaam, and Yunus Javed. The book is a prized memento of an important event focussed on Urdu literary creativity and its multifarious socio-cultural implications when measured in terms of contemporaneity.
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