A tribute to Manzoor Ahtesham: A man buried in his books
A tribute to Manzoor Ahtesham: A man buried in his bookson Apr 29, 2021 Decorated Hindi writer Manzoor Ahtesham signed off on a well-spent life in a hospital around midnight in Bhopal on Sunday last. When he breathed his last, he was in the company of a doctor and some paramedical staff as he was a COVID-19 patient and family members were not allowed. He is survived by the families of two daughters and that of younger brother Aijaz Ghafoor, a well-known interior designer in Bhopal. Manzoor had recently lost his wife and elder brother to COVID-19. (Stay up to date on new book releases, reviews, and more with The Hindu On Books newsletter. Subscribe here.) Born in April 1948, Manzoor belonged to one of the middle class families of Afghan lineage in picturesque Bhopal. He was handsome, very polite, unassuming, and friendly. A gentleman to the core, Manzoor had a sensitive heart, a sharp mind, and frugal lifestyle. For more than seven years that I spent in Bhopal as Resident Editor of Hindustan Times from 2000, and even later during numerous visits to the city, I found people had only good things to say about him. His parents wanted him to do engineering. He took admission, tried for a few years, but gave up, as his interest was in literature. When his brother Aijaz started a furniture showroom in late 70s, he requested Manzoor to help him out by being there. Aijaz fondly says, “Many visitors to the showroom would tell me that Manzoor Bhai was not to be seen, though he used to be around, sitting in one corner surrounded by books.”
Over my 35 years in journalism, I have interacted with numerous writers and public figures, but none can match Manzoor’s depth of understanding of world literature. There is hardly any classical or contemporary writer of repute in English, Hindi, and Urdu literature whom Manzoor had not read. “Our younger generation has stopped reading books,” he would often lament.
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