Writers do make mistakes, as you know. But when
I make one, it is important to put the record straight, of course. The
response to my last week’s column on these pages (‘Ibn-i-Safi: the imam
of Urdu detective fiction’) was not only warm and heartening for me but
a bit educative too. Ahmed Safi Sahib, Ibn-i-Safi’s son, was kind enough
to point out a couple of inaccuracies that crept in. Nooh Narvi, says
he, was Ibn-i-Safi’s maternal uncle and not his maternal grandfather.
Like a few other readers, he also has mentioned that the gentleman with
whose collaboration Ibn-i-Safi launched Nikhat was not Ali Abbas
Hussaini, the well-known progressive writer, but another fellow named
Abbas Hussaini, who ran a book-selling and publishing business at
Allahabad’s railway station.
I stand corrected and educated and am grateful
to the readers who took out their precious time and e-mailed me. It also
made my belief firmer that Ibn-i-Safi was a very popular writer and his
fans miss him greatly even today, 28 years after his death.
drraufparekh@yahoo.com
