A book that gets its message across to the reader

The book titled ‘Attashnama’ delivers an entertaining account of Dr. Attash Durrani’s achievements as a flag-career of language planning, development, promotion and policy for Urdu and Pakistani languages, and as a scholar, researcher, critic, terminologist, translatologist, educationist, language scientist, language knowledge manager/engineer, theorist and author of more than 250 books and 450 papers in Urdu and English.

In writing this book, the principal criteria include content, organization, and reference sources. Quoting extracts from different sources, new material and first-hand accounts available on Dr. Attash Durrani in the form of his interviews, documents etc., the author, Syed Ashfaq Hussain Bukhari, shows detailed progression of Dr. Attash Durrani’s career and takes the reader on a journey of the world of his achievements and mentions the strong positive traits of his personality leading towards success. The tone of the book reflects a learned appreciation for the marvels created by Dr. Attash Durrani.

The author allows the reader to easily follow the evolution of Dr. Attash Durrani’s hypotheses. The book is divided into ten chapters. The first chapter opens with glimpses of several opinions and outlooks on Dr. Attash Durrani gathered from leading Urdu language experts. The second chapter recounts the family of Dr. Attash Durrani, the third chapter narrates the environment which conferred on once unknown Attash Durrani a distinguished stature, the fourth chapter tells about the office intrigues where he worked and his bold character.

The fifth chapter starts with the tale of his economic struggle in Lahore, the sixth chapter deals with his fixed views on Urdu informatics, Urdu language history, Pakistani Urdu and offers his perspective on Urdu language , Urdu literature etc., the seventh chapter relates to his interviews and poetry, the eighth chapter reports details about Urdu informatics, the ninth chapter describes his accomplishments in other spheres alongside literature and journalism and the tenth chapter draws conclusions about his overall performance. 

The appendices conclude with a listing of sources and references about the factors and individuals who were propitious in shaping Dr. Attash Durrani as a star. The details available in the book provide sources for obtaining more information.

The construction of the book meshes well with its organization and lends itself successfully to the study of different time periods in the life history of Dr. Attash Durrani. Each chapter typically fits logically into the topic of the book. All chapters are composed of several defining parts that maintain a sense of continuity throughout the volume. There is also found supportive evidence to the theories formed in the book.

The book is completed by a thorough bibliography. The book is well-referenced. The orderliness of the book conforms to an academic curriculum and its chapters create neatly parcelled packages. The author provides good material and content, and the reader is not hampered by its abundance. Overall, a detailed story of the advancement of Dr. Attash Durrani is shown in readable and entertaining style. Picture album furnishes deeper insight into the factual information provided.

The author’s enthusiasm for the topic is obvious throughout the book. Thus, the greatest value and forte of this book, in my opinion, is that its author is able to systematically address and divulge each of the components of this immense subject, providing clear-cut explanations and specific examples to explicitly and successfully get his point across to the reader. This book may prove an excellent resource to students, educators, and Urdu language enthusiasts.