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95 pages

English

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To the world Imran may appear to be a rich, handsome buffoon with his sports car, eccentric dress sense and bizarre sense of humour-but in reality he possesses a razor-sharp mind, and the agility, strength and quick wits of the perfect spy. His colleagues at the secret service make fun of him, but little do they know that he is their mastermind chief X2-a man who can defeat any enemy and solve all mysteries. Detective Imran is spy-novelist Ibn-e Safi's greatest creation and the bestselling Imran series are Urdu cult classics, translated into English for the first time. The House of Fear: Dead bodies have been found in an abandoned house, each bearing three identical dagger marks, exactly five inches apart. Who is behind these eerie murders? Only Imran can solve this mystery. The House of Fear is the first book in the Imran series. Shootout at the Rocks: Colonel Zargham knows he is in grave danger when he receives a three-inch wooden monkey in the mail. This is no ordinary threat, but a warning from the two-hundred-years-old Li Yu Ka, one of the world's deadliest gangs. The monkey will be followed by a wooden snake, and then a wooden rooster, after which the colonel will be swiftly murdered. Only one man stands between Li Yu Ka and his death: genius sleuth, Ali Imran.

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Publié par	Random House Publishers India Pvt. Ltd.
Date de parution	02 décembre 2011
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9788184002553
Langue	English

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Translated by
Bilal Tanweer

RANDOM HOUSE INDIA
Published by Random House India in 2011
Copyright The Estate of Ibn-e Safi 2009
Translation Copyright Bilal Tanweer 2009
Random House Publishers India Private Limited
Windsor IT Park, 7th Floor, Tower-B,
A-1, Sector-125, Noida-201301, U.P.
Random House Group Limited
20 Vauxhall Bridge Road
London SW1V 2SA
United Kingdom
This eBook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author s and publisher s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
EPUB ISBN 9788184002553
Contents
Introduction
The House of Fear
Shootout at the Rocks
Acknowledgements
Introduction
L ITTLE DID N UZAIRA B IBI and her husband Safiullah know that the son born to them in 1928 would grow up to be a master story teller. His exact date of birth cannot be confirmed, but is believed to have been 26 July. The child s immediate milieu was humble-the little village of Nara in the Allahabad district. His delighted parents named him Asrar, which meant secrets or mysteries in Arabic.
The village of Nara where Asrar Narvi grew up had already earned something of a reputation for learning and culture, thanks to Nooh Narvi, an acclaimed poet and a disciple of Daagh Dehelvi. Nara s scholarly environment may have shaped the lives and careers of several others: for instance, Moulvi Rehman Ali Khan and Moulvi Ehsaan Ali Khan were renowned hakeems whose works were used as textbooks in all major schools of Yunani medicine. They happened to be Asrar s maternal grand uncles. Many other poets and scholars lived in Nara during his childhood, and most people in the village were related. Much of this probably influenced the young Asrar, who later said:
My father was fond of reading, therefore the house was full of novels and ancient mythology books but I was not allowed to even touch any of those. So I used to steal a book or two and pretending as if I was going out to play, I used to sneak up to the roof. Once on the roof, I used to be gone for the whole day. Eventually, one day I was caught red handed and the parents had an argument over it but finally the verdict was in my favor. My mother said, He is at least better off than the kids who spend their days playing gilli-danda or marbles in the streets. Then there were no holds barred and I was completely drowned in the stories.
Asrar Narvi s secondary education brought him to the big city of Allahabad, where he found himself exposed to a far greater range of imaginative literature-from the Tilism-e Hoshruba to Rider Haggard s She. The parallel worlds of eastern and western literatures spurred his own imagination, and stories filled his mind. He was in the seventh grade when his first short story was published in the acclaimed literary magazine Shahid, edited by Adil Rasheed. Taken in by his mature prose style, Adil Rasheed gave the story a byline: A product of the thoughtfulness of the Painter of Sentiments, Hazrat Asrar Narvi. For days afterward, the elders of the household teased him good-naturedly with orders like, Abay O Painter of Sentiments, fetch me a glass of water. By the time he was in the tenth grade, Asrar had taken to poetry, and loved to be introduced as a progressive writer; and in college, he found he was already fairly well known as a poet. Later, however, he was disillusioned by the divisions, rifts and rivalries among writers.
1947 was a tough and ultimately quite unproductive year for Asrar. His confusion and mental disturbance was characteristic of his generation:
The chain of dreams had broken. It seemed as if some wizard like Afrasiyab had caused a rain of magic knives upon all of society [a reference to the sorcerer Afrasiyab in the Tilism-e Hoshruba]; as if some she had been charred in fire [a reference to Rider Haggard s She]; as if the coffin of ancient Kallikrates had been stoned [ancient sources identify Iktinos and Kallikrates as co-architects of the Parthenon] and Love would never ever reign in the Hateland again.
In 1948, he started writing satires for the monthly Nakhat Allahabad under the pseudonym Tughral Farghan. But he also felt he ought to try his hand at another genre. Someone challenged him that Urdu novels could not be sold without an element of sex in them. He replied that no one had ever tried. His listener then remarked that it was not possible unless an alternative genre was developed.
Alternative? I thought for a while, and then had a vision of an eight-year-old child who had devoured all seven volumes of Tilism-e Hoshruba. I had also witnessed that eighty-year-olds were as fascinated by the Tilism as small children. So I said to myself, all right, let me see what I can do about an alternative genre.
This was in the early fifties when literature was low on fiction, and the novel lacked novelty. Asrar s emphasis on originality and newness led him to begin writing mystery novels. He assumed the pseudonym Ibn-e Safi-literally the son of Safi, (his father s name was Safi). Thus began the series Jasoosi Duniya in 1952, from Nakhat Publications. Later he moved to Pakistan, and in 1953 he began writing another set of novels called the Imran Series.
Gradually, Ibn-e Safi took over and Asrar Narvi faded away, still writing poetry but much less frequently than before. Ibn-e Safi wrote about two hundred and forty-five novels in both series and caused the birth of what came to be called Anna Libraries in India and Pakistan. These libraries helped instill a love of books in people in general. In no time at all, Ibn-e Safi s characters-Ali Imran, Colonel Faridi, Captain Hameed, Sung Hee, Thressia Bumble Bee of Bohemia, Tisdle, Dr. Dread, Finch and many others-became immortal. His novels were utterly addictive, and considered polite enough for the entire family to read.
The Imran Series revolves around Ali Imran, an engaging protagonist indeed. He has an MSc and PhD in criminology from Oxford, but can be disarmingly moronic, even appearing mad at times. There will often be instances in the book where the reader might find his comments nonsensical. This works in Imran s favour-one would never guess that he is the Chief of the Secret Service, with the code name X2. His comic behaviour and mannerisms make him the butt of his team members jokes and banter, and they routinely ridicule him, never suspecting that the boss they are terrified of is actually Imran himself. Imran is a past master at foiling conspiracies and unearthing sinister plots. But he is not simply an efficient detective with the uncanny ability to dodge bullets; he is as educated as he is agile, and fluent in several languages.
Jasoosi Duniya, on the other hand, revolves around Colonel Ahmad Kamal Faridi and his sidekick Captain Sajid Hameed. Faridi is well-built, tall and attractive, and his physical strength is central to most of his adventures. Faridi works for the police department merely for the thrill of it-he is otherwise heir to a huge estate, and does not need to work for a living. Despite many chances to move up in his career, Faridi declines all promotions and stays in the active service in order to avoid being assigned an administrative job. Faridi drives the latest imported cars, and even maintains a well-equipped laboratory at home to satisfy his scientific curiosity. His kennel and snake house have the finest of dogs and rarest of snakes. His assistant, Captain Hameed, is playful, mischievous, carefree, romantic, and when occasion demands, hardworking, brave, fearless, intelligent and smart. Hameed calls Faridi, Father Hardstone because he never openly displays his emotions, and appears to be immune to the advances of the fairer sex.
Astonishingly, Ibn-e Safi s two series still have a very wide readership. At the time they were written, learned professors, professionals, students, labourers and housewives alike would queue up at bookstalls to buy his latest books. It may have been his clever combination of wit, suspense and humour; or perhaps, the simple prose in which he explored the most complex of subjects. His novels investigated thought-provoking social and psychological issues in a manner that would make them accessible to the general public. It is hardly surprising then that editors have compiled books of quotations from Ibn-e Safi s works, which are thought to present a faithful portrait of his times. The tenor of the books invites readers to respect the law, and be peace-loving and patriotic. Nonetheless, the details of crimes and the solutions of puzzles were convincing enough for official intelligence agencies to consult him on the latest methods in the art of detection.
Ibn-e Safi was regularly chastised by the literary elite for being a popular writer, and was never granted the recognition he deserved. He responded to such criticism as follows:
Whatsoever the quality of fictional literature, it is eventually a means to mental escape. Its purpose is to provide recreation of one or the other level. Just as a football player cannot be entertained by a game of chess, similarly elitist or high literature is absolutely meaningless for a big segment of our society. Then why should I write for a few drawing rooms? Why shouldn t I write in a style which is more popular maybe this way some high concepts may reach the common people too?
Fictional characters often reflect the persona of their creator, and Ibn-e Safi himself possessed many of the traits and qualities of Colonel Faridi and Imran. His witticisms-like Imran s-were admired by friends and intellectual rivals, and his principles were as unshakeable as Colonel Fari