Figar remembered on his 11th death anniversary

The literary circles of Islamabad and Rawalpindi remembered Dilawar Hussain Figar, a noted humorist, poet and scholar, on his 11th death anniversary here on Sunday.
According to private TV channel, Figar was known as Shehansha-e-Zarafat and Akbar-e-Sani for his satirical and rich humour writings. He was born on July 8, 1929 and died on January 25, 1998 in Karachi. Figar started writing in 1942 at the age of fourteen. He did his MA (Urdu, English and Economics) from Agra University (India).
After independence, he settled in Karachi in 1968, where he joined Haroon College and taught Urdu. He also worked for KDA as Assistant Director Town Planning.
In a mushaera aired live by PTV during the 1970s general elections, Dilawar Figar recited his poem 'Main Apna Vote Kis Ko Doon?' in his unique style Dilawar Figar became a household name overnight. Other poems of his such as 'KDA Se Shikwa', 'Karachi Ki Bus', 'Karachi Ke Qabristan', 'Gadhe ka Qatl' and 'Ishq Ka Parcha' enhanced his popularity and his participation in a mushaera was a sign of its success. His other books include Sitam Zareefyan, Shamat-e-Aamal, Aadab Arz, and Matla Arz Hai. A selection of his poetry titled Az Sar-e-Nau was published from India in 1979.
Khoob Tar Kahan is Figar's translation into Urdu of Jimmy Carter's biography. He rendered into Urdu 100 of the best poems in English and the anthology was titled Khushboo Ka Safar.
Figar belonged to a generation of poets and times that valued the technicalities of poetry, that is, prosody, diction, cadence, rhetoric and the figurative use of the language. He perfected his art in an environment that did not spare anyone who lacked these qualities. This sharpened his saw and with a natural gift for poetry and humour, he outshone many of his contemporaries.
Secondly, his topics were current and his targets well known: everyday problems of city life shared by all and sundry. Common misery is a thread that binds everyone together. By combining these two traits and inserting in between some elements of permanent value, Figar created humorous verse that does not wilt with the change of weather.
There is yet another aspect that has given his poetry universal appeal and permanence: the problems he talked about are persistent and still lingering.
It has become a tragicomedy. Our hardships and tragedies have been there all through these years, and the same problems have become such a part of current affairs that they are not current anymore. Or, perhaps, current affairs are somehow not so current in this part of the world. As Dilawar Figar said in one of the couplets that have become proverbial: Halaat-e-haazra ko kai saal ho gae.