Legendary Urdu satire and humor writer Mushtaq Ahmed Yusufi died here yesterday, bringing to an end the famous "Yusufi era of satire and humor". He was 95. After the Partition of India, his family moved to Karachi. Born into a well-to-do family of Jaipur, Rajasthan, in undivided India, Yusufi had served as head of several international and financial institutions in Pakistan after receiving formal education in India. He did his masters in philosophy and LLB from Aligarh Muslim University after receiving a BA degree from Agra University.
His prose therefore was strongly characterized by astute appreciation of human behavior; and he had dexterity in explaining-through his numerous works-what actually constitutes human behavior, telling his readers that human behavior is the responses of individuals and groups of humans to internal and external stimuli; but he would pen each and everything in a highly sophisticated manner for Yusufi sahib also knew that human behavior can be difficult to understand. His satire was neat, clean and effective, forcing his readers and listeners to reflect and ponder seriously. Noted Urdu satirist and humorist Ibn-e-Insha famously wrote about Mushtaq Ahmad Yusufi: "...if ever we could give a name to the literary humour of our time, then the only name that comes to mind is that of Yusufi!" Another scholar, Dr Zaheer Fatehpuri, wrote, "We are living in the 'Yousufi era' of Urdu literary humour..."
The Yousufi era started from 1961 when Yousufi's first book 'Chiragh Talay' was published. So far 11 editions of this book have appeared. It has a foreword titled 'Pahla pathhar' written by the author himself plus 12 satirical and humorous articles. As of 2008, he is living in Karachi and often appears on TV programs as well as seminars. His fifth book Shaam-e-Shair-e-Yaaran (2014) was launched at the Arts Council of Pakistan in Karachi in 2014 at a ceremony presided over by a well-known writer Zehra Nigah, who famously said at the event, "Neither Yousufi sahib, nor any of his books will ever get old". Yusufi sahib was the recipient of Sitara-e-Imtiaz, Hilal-e-Imtiaz and innumerable literary awards for his meritorious services that he rendered for Urdu language till he breathed his last. His conduct was always guided by deep social, cultural and professional ethics; his humor can be safely described as pious as it was not only free from any vulgarity but unwanted embellishments as well. Urdu language has become poorer after his death. His namaz-e-janaza will be offered at Masjid-e-Sultan Intersection of Khayaban-e-Hafiz and Khayaban-e-Bahria after Zohr prayers today.
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