Patras Bukhari‘s preface is dated as written on Jin Delhi which means the first collection of ‘jhoolne’ must’ve appeared around that time. Patras Bukhari has actually indeed written the preface of ‘jhoolne’ and towards the end of it he prays for Sufi Tabassum in following words:ĭua hai ke Sufi Tabassum ka ye bachpan hamesha qaayem rahe! In the begining of this book, dated as January 1, 1958, Sufi Tabassum mentions Patras Bukhari as one of his respected teachers and friends. The collection of poems shared here come from his book called ‘ jhoolne‘ which was first published in 1958. He retired from Government College as the head of Urdu and Farsi Department. He taught at Central Training College, Lahore (1927-31) and Government College, Lahore (1931-1954). He got his education from Church Mission High School Amritsar, Khalsa College Amritsar, FC College Lahore (B.A) and Punjab University Lahore (M.A and B.T). Sufi Ghulam Mustafa Tabassum was born is Amritsar (India) on August 4, 1899. In very simple language it talks about a ‘laddoo’ (sweets) which has attracted attention of two young boys ( munna(y)). He talks to children in their simple language.įollowing poem is called ‘munna aur laddoo’. This is what Sufi Tabassum is most famous for. A very simple story like this, told in rhyming Urdu makes people of all ages smile and remember this poem for ever. To this dilemma the rooster suggests to hen to sell her eggs and buy shoes for herself. While she commends herself on this feat of laying beautiful eggs she also complains that despite producing beautiful eggs she remains bare feet. A hen is telling a rooster that she has laid an egg. For our English readership, I want to give an approximate translation.
The poem to the left is titled as ‘anda’ (egg) and it is another of my favourites. One of the most famous characters of Sufi Tabassum‘s poems is a boy named ‘tot batot’ which is now a household name across Pakistan.
His poems can be found in text books across Pakistan, in children’s magazines as well as in audio media. More than a generation has grown up reciting and remembering his poems by heart. In 4 simple lines Sufi Tabassum has created this melodious masterpiece for children which is ‘hum-wazan’, rhyming and easy to remember. This poem uses sound ( tar tar) of old cars (motor) as well as sound ( cham cham) of a horse cart ( tam tam). Sufi Tabassum is famous for using sound effects in his poems to get children’s attention. The title poem to the right here is called ‘tar tar’. For the past two nights I’ve been reading this book to my son at bed time and it has also taken me to a ride through memory lane, and hence the motivation to write this post. My mother recently mailed me one of his books called ‘jhoolne’ for my son. This post is an attempt to introduce one of most famous poets of Pakistan who has written extensively children.