"Poetry is my first love”
Amjad Islam Amjad
Zarqa Bashir

He bursts into giggles so full of life. And he is talkative too. He loves to talk rarely allowing anyone to intervene. Yet he has that art of conversation which rarely makes anyone like to intervene. Amjad Islam Amjad has a loveable personality.

I first met him two years ago. And he has hardly changed. He had a sharp memory then, a quality he retains. He develops a bond in the first meeting that hardens with the passage of time. Long spell that breeds distance becomes ineffective in his case for he has the ability to connect loose ends and bridge the gulf.

Amjad Islam Amjad was born on 4th August 1944 in Lahore. His family had a small business so none of them could develop an affinity with books. It was most likely that he might have ended up in becoming a businessman when his neighbor Baidar Bakht came to his rescue. He had a great collection of books which he seldom allowed any one to touch save the little Amjad Islam. “I started reading books that were beyond my grasp.” The exercise was not in futility though. “The awareness of cadence and rhythm is there in the poet but it takes time to convert that into awareness for meter.” Reading helped him to realize it soon and thus the poet emerged from within much earlier. He was made the editor of his school magazine Nishan-i-Manzil.

For some time his literary journey that took such a bold start was halted. He diverted his energies to the field of sports, there also he achieved prominence. “At that time I was convinced that I’ll be cricketer” said Amjad Islam. But destiny had some other plans for him. There was a strong resistance in his family who wanted him to take up some job. He was not selected for the university team. Disheartened to the core then, he now feels that those events proved a blessing in disguise. His B.A. result was declared and he received a scholarship in Urdu.

His two years at the university were full of literary activity. He was made chairman of the Urdu Literary Society. The next year he was made chief editor of the university magazine. He also topped in M.A. which helped him get the job in education department. In 1996 he joined M.A.O. College as lecturer in Urdu.

Amjad Islam Amjad has fond memories of his childhood. “I remember I was called the Kahaniyon ki Machine by my English teacher when I was in class 6th. It was my aunt who told tales to me which I used to narrate to my classmates. I am indebted to my aunt for cultivating a knack for knitting stories in me. Then every week a competition of story telling was held in our school. I always used to get 1st prize. I think all these activities prepared the foundation for the path which I was to tread in future”.

Even the time he spent playing cricket didn’t prove vain. “I think disappointments never ever could empower me completely. I could take defeat with the sports man’s spirit. It also taught me to share with people”.

According to him the poet was born long before the dramatist. From the beginning Amjad Islam Amjad felt a desire to express himself in words. His major breakthrough came as a poet when his poem was published in fanoon in January 1966.