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Dear Sohail,
Thanks for including me in the discussion. As
you know, I am no scholar, poet or writer, like most of you in
the list. I am an average run of the mill kind of psychiatrist
who likes company of good learned people like yourself. I see
that your criticism on Yusufi has stirred many emotions. It is
really an interesting phenomenon to see how we defend those we
like and make them sacred. In your defense I would like to
make few points:
1. This logic that because no one is available
till now, in Urdu literature who can write better humor than
Yusufi, makes him sacred and holy, and any attempt to
criticize him will be taken as an assault to the integrity of
entire Urdu literature, is immature and childish. Even if he
is the best that does not mean he is perfect. Once we give
this credence of perfection to someone, that is when the
problem starts - as we see in religion all the time. Lets
treat Yusufi as a human being, capable of biases and making
mistakes, instead of giving him boost to a level where we can
not appreciate a sincere attempt to healthy criticism.
2. I am also curious to see that some of my
friends actually quote Yusufi as if they are quoting haadith
or a verse from their holy book. They memorize his entire
verse and repeat it as a piece of poetry. They claim that you
can open his book from any page and you do not need reference
to the context to appreciate the quality of literature and
humor. I see several things common in most of these friends -
they love literature, especially Urdu literature, they are
kindhearted humorous people in general, they are religious at
the core of their hearts, even though they talk about secular
ideas, they are not very creative in the true sense of it and
are mainly followers (of course just an observation - no
offense intended).
3. Unless we allow healthy, positive and
creative criticism, how in the world, we are ever going to
improve? How are we ever going to produce a better writer than
Yusufi, a better poet than Ghalib, a better philosopher than
Iqbal, a better human than Mohammad, a better religion than
Islam? I think, your attempt to criticize Yusufi is very
methodical and professional. I do not think at any point you
have tried to say that he is not creative or not humorous. All
you are saying is that, these are the areas where I see him
weak and these are his strong points. Well that is I think we
need in every aspect of our lives - ANALYSIS.
Love for those who adore Yusufi and also for
those who just like him.
Thanks for the opportunity.
Rizwan.
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