“Basarat Se Baseerat Tak”:

بصارت سے بصیرت تک

Capt. Maqbool Ahmed ki Dastan e Hayaat

By Rubab Ayesha

Published by Press for Peace Publications, Pakistan, 2024.

 

Published in the Urdu language, English rendering would be something like

From eyesight to insight

 

A biography of Capt. (R). Maqbool Ahmed.

 

Reviewed By Mehrunissa

 

This is the life story of a commissioned officer of the Pakistan Army who got blind at the age of 27 in the year 1973. This book is a flashback into events that redefined his whole life’s purpose and pattern. How he fully accepted his handicap and not only betrayed any pretences of depression, aimlessness or helplessness but modelled the exact opposite to the rescue of many disabled caught at the helm.

A flowing forth account of a man who made blindness seen, enabled the blind with resources and faith in themselves, in their abilities to realize their destinies.

Rubab Ayesha, is a senior journalist and a pioneering figure in female journalism since the 1960s when the press world was heavily male packed. To carve a name for herself in the backdrop required nerves on top of qualifications.

The book has 114 pages, 21 chapters of short lengths and photo references. The font is great and overall it makes for a concise and page turning read.

Ayesha has tried to capture the life in real motion of a great man committed to the cause of disabled , especially the blind.

Her style is natural, coherent and honest. True to the spirit of getting to the grind and excavating a raw and truthful account.  But her style really comes alive in this special case as the character and the characteristics of her writing have a correspondence. Maqbool Ahmed is the quintessence of authenticity and simplicity in all his bearings.

A person who has led his life like an open book has a heart Eveready and eager to care and comfort with a pinch of humour and hope. This account is an unedited disclosure of his life’s highs and lows. All through his life’s pages, he’s made friends, learned and shared his experiences without prejudice and judgement and created a sincere following of inspired persons. The book starts with an account of his family, childhood meanderings from rustic to city life of the 1940s, and 50s. The little anecdotes of migration from India to Pakistan, village to city, English medium to Urdu, the armed forces and then blindness.

Meeting his soul mate, Dr. Salma Maqbool who was gradually turning blind when he was stone blind, brings a pleasant twist to his life. How the couple established Darakhshan. Pakistan Foundation for fighting blindness, REDO eye donors trust and represented Pakistan Internationally at UN, SAARC, International Federation for the Blind and Disabled etc. Not only underscoring the cause, collecting memories, friends and lessons. Due to the couple’s tireless efforts blind were finally allowed to sit in the competitive exams. This beautiful brief book is more than a tribute to the unyielding spirit of people and details their motivation in action, it’s a guide to reflect on our own outlooks and reach out to those Disabled in practical ways.

A must read!!


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