Reviewed By Marylou Andrew
Of my favourite vintage TV series, Columbo,
starring Peter Falk as the disheveled, seemingly confused and
absentminded detective who solved cases with razor sharp precision,
was probably the best. Columbo hit American TV screens in 1960, yet
five years earlier, the archetype of the bumbling detective was
created by Ibne Safi when he started writing the Imran Series.
Born in Allahabad in 1928, Ibne Safi (nom
de plume of Asrar Ahmad) started writing fiction in the early 1950s
while he was teaching as a secondary school teacher and studying
part-time. His first series titled Jasoosi Dunya was spread over 125
books, while the Imran Series continued through 120 books. Safi’s
books were so popular that they were translated into regional
languages and also sold on the black market. His writing even
prompted the great Agatha Christie to declare: ‘I don’t know Urdu
but have knowledge of detective novels of the subcontinent. There is
only one original writer — Ibne Safi.’
Unfortunately, like most Urdu fiction
writing of the ‘40s and ‘50s, Safi’s work had also completely
disappeared from bookshelves and people’s memories until Random
House, India decided to translate some of his works into English.
Thus The House of Fear was published earlier this year with two
stories from the Imran Series: The House of Fear and Shootout at the
Rocks.
Both stories feature the quirky Ali Imran
MSc, PhD (he likes to introduce himself that way) and his
long-suffering sidekick, Fayyaz. Imran is absentminded but loves to
smart talk his way in and out of situations. Fayyaz, on the other
hand is eternally exasperated with his brilliant yet confused
partner and tries his best to keep up with the madness. Together the
odd couple whiz through Karachi on their Vespa, zoom in and out of
nightclubs and deal with Imran’s womanising ways to solve mysteries
which have far-reaching consequences.
The stories give modern day readers
(particularly younger people) a sense of what Karachi was like in
the ‘60s with its nightclubs, discotheques and casinos. Yet the
paradoxes of ‘liberal’ living versus more conservative values are
very clearly visible in these books.
While the mysteries are absorbing and
interesting, sadly the translation falls short. Much of Imran’s
smart talk — the highlight of these books — is lost in translation.
For example, ‘I swear by Madhubala’s youth I will return the bag’
doesn’t sound nearly as witty as ‘Madhubala ki jawani ki kasam main
bag lauta doonga.’
While the English translation is an
excellent way to introduce Urdu fiction to young Pakistanis and
should be continued, greater care must be taken to preserve the
original essence of the author’s work.
The House of Fear
(Translation)
By Ibne Safi
Translated by Bilal Tanweer
Random House, India
ISBN 978-81-8400-097-9
228pp. Rs395
