A Hameed

Abdul Hameed also known as A. Hameed, a popular Urdu fiction writer from Lahore, Pakistan, who wrote over two hundred books, was born in Amritsar circa 1928 but gained his adulthood in Lahore. He did not distinguish one city from the other. He loved both. Until Partition they were twin cities hardly 30 miles apart. 

Hameed's first collection of short stories received popular acclaim. Apart from writing short stories and novels, he wrote columns for national newspapers. He also wrote for radio and television.

He has written more than 200 books. Urdu She'r Ki Dastan, Urdu Nasr ki Dastan (in which he has given information about the prose literature of many Urdu prose writers from Banda Nawas gesu Draz to the recent prose writers of Daccen and Gugrat), Mirza Ghalib, Dastango Ashfaq Ahmad and Mirza Ghalib Lahore mai are his most famous books.

His drama Ainak Wala Jin was popular with children in the 1990s. Moreover his fantasy series of 100 novels for children known as the Ambar Naag Maria Series increased his popularity. He was awarded Pride of Performance by the Government of Pakistan.

He Died on 29 April 2011 at the age of 83 in Lahore.

Hameed wrote affectionately about Lahore: 

"I close my eyes and return to the Lahore of the early years of independence. I find myself walking along the Mall on an autumn afternoon. Yellow leaves float down from the trees and gently land on the road, from where the wind carries them away. Some fall on the footpath. The Mall is quiet and the leaves lie on its black surface undisturbed. The verandas in front of the row of stores in Shah Din Building were always cool and empty. In summer months, we would walk through them to get to Plaza Cinema. The strip of road between these verandas and the footpath skirting the Mall was never traffic-infested. Lahore was such a quiet, civilized and elegant city. Sometimes, an odd car would pass or a stray tonga would go by. There were four eucalyptus trees growing out of the footpath between the Shah Din Building and Charing Cross, their lissome branches undulating in the breeze. Only one of those trees has survived, the other three have long since died."

Photo Courtesy: Mr. Rashid Ashraf