A man who loved Lahore heritage

LAHORE: Borrowing from Robert Frost’s famous poem The Road not taken -’Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled by, and that has made a difference’ and yes Tahir Yazdani Malik, who passed away lately justified poet’s philosophy.

The ‘heritage man’ has left a large number of admirers mourning his loss due to a sudden heart attack at not so old age of 60. I can take the liberty of calling him Tymji as he was known among his buddies during school and college days and even branded ‘Guru ji’ as he had always something new up his sleeves. He was lost in Lahore’s rich history as going to Walled City and exploring it was like ‘pilgrimage’ for him.

Calling him guide of old Lahore was something less as he used to discover old buildings belonging to Mughal and colonial times which also raises question mark on the efficiency of departments concerned.

His passion for heritage led him to make a museum in his house located in Gulberg opposite Shapes and was also the founder-president of Lahore Heritage Club. He also promoted truck art way back 30 years ago when it was unknown in Lahore and used to promote different cultures of Pakistan especially the Kafiristan culture. At one stage he dealt in old Swati furniture. During his last days, he got interested in Gilgit-Baltistan culture. When he was studying at the Government College in psychology department, he founded the photography society and held many exhibitions and especially fashion photography was his forte, becoming teacher to many students who later made name in this field. Tymji was honoured the other day by the civil society at his house that arranged a candlelit vigil to pay tribute to his philanthropic spirit.

This requiem could not be complete without mentioning that he was also part of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf in its early days but later parted ways because of the PTI deviating from its manifesto. His son Ali Sher, who is still a student, should carry his legacy in the form of arranging visits to his private museum that was his life.