Aamir Ansari

I’ve never been terribly good (nor keen) at describing myself, and the description I now share is one that I had asked a friend to write for me for our yearbook, a few years ago. For better or worse, the words still apply, or so he assures me.

Presuming the reader is not bothered by a little cynicism in invaluable friends, here is a man and his perfectly genuine silence waiting to be introduced. He shall welcome your cautious approach but snub you outright if you mistake his courtesy for diffidence. Often a careless remark shall earn his polite disapproval  a special warning to the weakness of human nature which takes offence at acquaintances who make no special effort to please us. Weary of words and secretly sensitive, boisterous company leaves him undecided but he can always enjoy a pleasant, not-too-personal, conversation. Troubled by ultimate questions  for instance, whether it is fair to have a servant clean your room - he might refuse to shake your hand at the slightest hint, real or imagined, of mockery or pretence in your demeanour. Even his food shall rather rot in his fridge than sate rogueish classmates; and then, his thoughts might end up on his own rudeness or go on to remind him of the hunger of a little child he saw sleeping on the sidewalk some night. Although always kind he does not deny his reason the course of analysis and occasionally lets a bitter string in his soul resonate to irony, especially in aesthetic matters.



Taimur Khan, who wrote this, is not only a doctor of medicine but also a scholar of philosophy, a writer (responsible for two novels as well as countless poems and essays on various themes in philosophy) and a musician (his most recent performance was at the All-Pakistan Music Conference in Lahore last month where he performed Raag Jaijaiwanti on the sarangi). However, I believe his greatest quality lies in the facility with which he uses common language to recreate a sense of beauty out of what is commonly thought absurd. Oh, and his cheese omelettes are the stuff of legend.

add to my favorite writers