Pakistan News & Features Services
Talat Rahim is not new to creative writing. She had been doing it from early days and was entrusted with the responsibility of editing first the school magazine and then the college magazine during her stay at the prestigious St Joseph’s Convent School and College in Karachi.
She completed her academic career with a bang, having earned the gold medal while doing Masters in Mass Communication from the University of Karachi.
Although she looked after operations and management at the institutions like the Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) and the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP), she fuelled her passion for writing by contributing regularly for iconic publications like Daily Dawn and Monthly Newsline.
Since 2010 she has been into authoring books. After Down Bureaucracy Lane (2010), Down Matrimonial Lane (2012) and Diary of a Hypocrite (2015), she has now come up with her fourth book titled If Born Again, having been published by Paramount Books, the market leaders in the industry.
If Born Again, spread over 280 pages, indeed seems to be the first book of its kind which has attempted to bring together high achievers and inspiring personalities from Pakistan as well as India.
The retail price of Rs 695 also looks very reasonable for the hardbound title which could be a source of inspiration for all kinds of people.
Highly imaginative and probing questions were put forward to the selected 22 celebrities, most of whom have done justice by sharing their thoughts and aspirations in a rather candid manner.
The list of eminent personalities profiled and interviewed in the book from India features Mahesh Bhatt, the much loved movie icon.
Then there is Naseeruddin Shah, the indomitable gifted movie superstar. Mani Shankar Aiyar, the legendary diplomat turned politician, has also recorded his views in this very unusual book.
Then there are Ram Subramanian, that brave and courageous voice from across the border, Ganesh Natarjan, the IT genius from Pune, Raghu Karnad, the famous author from Bengaluru, Laxmi Narayan Tripathi, the globally renowned transgender from Maharashtra, Nargis and Sunil Dutt’s daughter Priya Dutt, who is now a parliamentarian, Shabnam Hashmi the fearless social activist from Delhi and Pooja Bhatt, the charming Bollywood actress.
From the Pakistan side, Sardar Mumtaz Ali Bhutto, the talented cousin of the late Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, has thrown caution to the winds in his replies while Javed Jabbar, a former Senator, springs a surprise on what he would like to be if born again.
Salima Hashmi, daughter of Faiz Ahmed Faiz, sparkles in this book with many verses of that much missed poet.
Sikander Bakht, the Test cricketer turned analyst, Amin Gujee, the artist and sculptor, Naseer Turabi and Mahmood Sham, the celebrated poets, Beena Sarwar and Zubeida Mustafa, the prolific journalists, Tehmina Durrani author of My Feudal Lord turned women’s rights activist, film and television director Mehreen Jabbar and the youngest lady Fatima Zara Mallick (FZM) have also been profiled and interviewed in the book.
I would like to gift my two published books to Talat Rahim and buy her books. I am now working on two more books. Paul Brown of The Guardian newspaper has written the preface of a book I am working on these days. He is an authority on climate change and global warming. I was never impressed by the flowery English of Javed Jabbar and his India bashing. I always stood for peace between the two great neighbors
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