It is hard to analyse or theorise anything about Zahid Dar, his persona or his work. Things too intimate can only be told as anecdotes. I met him only a few times for I spent most of my early years in Karachi and then later lived in Islamabad but his name would appear in every other literary conversation one would have, from London to Lahore.
He was like the city he had made his home affectionate and elusive at the same time. Perhaps that’s what erudition brings you. Like a higher form of spiritual experience, you become detached from the mundane but, at the same time, you revel in detail. The contradictions are palpable. That was Zahid Dar a voracious reader and avant-garde poet, who passed away two weeks ago at the age of 84.
Remembering the last Bohemian and beat poet of Lahore
If I were to tell Zahid Dar I didn’t want to write his obituary, he would understand. He understood the value of not writing if one didn’t want to. Or not speaking every time one was asked to; or becoming aloof while sitting in a crowd; or not existing to work or working to exist as everyone else did.
But he is dead and here we are. Left with memories of a life that must be recalled, celebrated, what else. Intizar Husain took no chances: Dar could outlive him and not give him the opportunity to write a befitting tribute, so he wrote a sketch,
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Musicians perform at a plaque unveiling ceremony at the Alhamra Arts Council to mark Unesco honour conferred upon Lahore. Online
LAHORE: Lahore has been declared the “city of literature” – the first place in the country to have been conferred the title by Unesco.
A ceremony was held at Alhamra Art Center’s Burney Garden where the Unesco director and Punjab government officials spoke about the importance of Lahore as a centre of learning and conviviality. The stage was set in the garden which was nicely decked up and musicians played tunes of songs.
Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan was the chief guest at the plaque unveiling ceremony as Chief Minister Usman Buzdar could not make it to the venue because of his other commitments.