Shaam Bakhair
By Mahmood Shaam
Atlantis Publications
ISBN: 978-696-601-512-3
860pp.

Autobiographies of men of stature are not just descriptions of the events that took place in their lives but also of the era they lived in, along with an analysis of those events. And they also serve as documents that complement the history of that age.

Such is the autobiography of Mahmood Shaam, a veteran journalist and poet, with over 60 years of experience in the news media.

Titled Shaam Bakhair, this voluminous book of more than 800 pages tries to capture 80 years of Shaam’s life. It begins with him saying in the first few pages that he finds nothing beautiful in his childhood, which ‘normally’ is a joyous and beautiful time in one’s life. But that is understandable in his case, as his childhood witnessed severe trauma during the 1947 partition of the Subcontinent.

And as it is about the important events of the life of a journalist having such vast experience, the autobiography naturally contains information and facts that are important and not known by most people.

Shaam’s story begins with his migrating to Pakistan in 1947. He writes about sitting in the bogie of a freight train along with his mother, which had been forcibly halted. They heard shouts of a riotous mob from either side and soon there was blood everywhere. But there was also respite, he says, as it was a journey from slavery to freedom which, however, still remains a dream for him in this country, as we learn later in the book.

The memoirs of one of the most respected journalists and editors in the Pakistan documents 80 years in Mahmood Shaam’s life and that of the country, but one comes away with the feeling that much has been left unsaid

Shaam’s family arrived in Lahore and settled down in Jhang, a city where he........

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