Unique amalgamation of Lahore’s past and present

LAHORE: Renowned teacher of history and famous scholar, Dr Fatima Hussain’s book on history of Lahore, titled “LAHORE: The City of Love”, is a unique amalgamation of history of this centuries old city and its present in a highly informative and entertaining style.

Dr Fatima Hussain is a profound and inspiring teacher of History at Delhi University, India and was educated at the Lady Shri Ram College and did her MPhil and PhD at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, where she teaches History presently.

Dr Fatima Hussain is no stranger to Lahore and has been here many times. She loves Lahore, as the book which is an account of its history, morphology and culture, depicts. Written in a very different style from the usually drab and dry history books ‘Lahore: The City of Love’, expresses Dr Fatima’s love, inspiration and personal affiliation with this great city and its lively-hearted dwellers.

Dr Fatima heartfelt warmth of the hospitality of the people of Lahore, which she has narrated in a very friendly but in thought-provoking manner. She has connected Lahore’s past, its famous sons & daughters and its historic landmarks with its present state. Quite nostalgic she becomes when compares the Lahore of today with the City of Gardens & Lights it had been in the very near past, the historian cum intellectual becomes a little sad over the gruesome changes made to the beautiful sky line and atmosphere of the this great city. She, at times, compares Lahore with the Indian Capital New Delhi, where she lives and teaches, and finds Lahore much soothing, colourful, glorious and beautiful. However, she expresses concern over the increased pollution, the fast turning of this green city into a concrete jungle, owning to the never-ending commercialism in the name of ‘development’.

The pictorial history of Lahore by Dr Fatima Hussain is, not only a glaring proof of this City’s glorious past and its grandeur, but also a very enlightening source of information and inspiration for the young generation who would be knowing the value of their own city and its place in the history of the world. She has pointed out the great landmarks, the great personalities, the events which made Lahore famous on the face of the earth and also its own characteristic as a living, thriving and highly attractive place, filled with a vibrant, loving, warm and humanistic culture.