Master Sher Afzal's Simple and Straightforward Poetry

Dr Yaseen Iqbal Yousafzai

Publishing Date: Monday, November 21 2005

Authored by: Master Sher Afzal Afzal
Pages:  230
Price: Rs.60
Available at: Pashto Academy Bookshop

It was in the late seventies when I first happened to see a middle aged teacher standing in front of a huge laughing audience of teachers and students. Some of his humorous, meaningful QITAAT are popular since fifties but their architect is known to very few of us. Zamaa Koat was his very popular poem in seventies and is still remembered as a masterpiece of humorous Pukhto poetry. By profession, Mr. Sher Afzal used to be a very hard working, devoted and intelligent teacher and his students still remember him as their favourite English teacher. He was associated with education department for several decades and finally retired in 1993 as a principal. It is very difficult for a straightforward critic of Sher Afzal's calibre to remain in such a service in such a society as ours for such a long period but contrastingly, he could not only manage to complete his service but could keep on criticising the evils of the society very openly. All this seems to be the miracle of enormous humour he could colour his poems with.

Master Sher Afzal is a master of Pukhto poetry and has proved this by writing on several different subjects such as romanticism, nationalism and the deviation of our youngsters from persistent cultural norms. He has very forcefully condemned the artificial classification of our society. He says

(I congratulated Toray (symbolic name) and said that I have come to know about the birth a cute lovely baby in your home,
Toray advised me to congratulate the Khans on the birth of a Dehqaan-son-of-Dehqaan in Toree's home").

The way Master Sher Afzal criticise the widespread corruption in our society is also very unique and says

(The Devil was crying in front of a cottage, I asked him why are you crying crook?
He replied "I was used to build this cottage but the owner credited it to the will of God").

 The book has been divided into several sections and one complete section has been spared to Urdu poetry which is in itself full of humour.

We have numerous poets in pukhto and most of them are excellent critics as well but the way Master Sher Afzal Afzal criticises the widespread injustices is unique.

Every piece of poetry in the book under-review "Saada Baada Wainaa" (Simple Straightforward aphorism) is a masterpiece of Master Sher Afzal and hope every reader will enjoy as well as learn from it.

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