Revisiting Afzal Parvez’s Ban Phulwari half a century after its publication
F |
aiz Ahmed Faiz, writing on the flap of Ban Phulwari (meaning “flowers in full bloom”), a collection of Pothwari and Punjabi folk songs and dances, reflected on the role of folklorists. Folklorists, Faiz said, gathered songs, ballads, tales and riddles from their surroundings. Unlike other writers and scholars, they enjoyed the advantage of avoiding laborious library research and sifting through piles of books. However, their work demanded significant effort and the development of a discerning eye to distinguish the “pure” from the “impure.”
This contrast between folklorists and other writers, as presented in the prologue to Ban Phulwari, appears to be an obligatory note, likely tied to Faiz’s administrative position at Idara Saqafat-i-Pakistan (The Institute for Pakistani Culture), which published the collection. In the introductory section, Ahmed Saleem discusses contemporary approaches to collecting folk songs and highlights how specific regions of the Punjab, have been neglected in such efforts. However, the prelude veers unnecessarily into a debate of dialect versus language.
In a broader context, this discussion sheds light on the sensitivities and politics surrounding the linguistic status of various regions. Even today, languages spoken by fewer people are often perceived as a threat to dominant linguistic identities, raising fears that they could serve as the basis for new provincial identities.
Published in 1973, Ban Phulwari (meaning “flowers in full bloom”) by Afzal Parvez (1916–2001) is a seminal text on Pothwari and Punjabi folk songs. To this day, it remains one of the most widely read sources on folk music. Following its publication, Ban Phulwari received critical acclaim from scholars such as Professor Christopher Shackle; Russian academics from Moscow University; and some writers from Indian Punjab, including Sheila Bhatia. Many of its songs were incorporated into performing arts projects. An opera based on one of the songs was aired on Indian television for years. Several others were adapted into musical forms for Pakistani films and broadcast on radio and television. The book later became part of the curriculum for graduate programmes in anthropology and Punjabi literature at various universities in Pakistan and earned numerous literary accolades, including the prestigious Habib Bank Writers’ Guild Award.
The publication of Ban Phulwari posed significant challenges for Parvez. Initially titled Phooloñ Bhari Changayr, it took nearly nine years to secure a publisher. The manuscript passed through several government departments during this period, and its title and several songs were stolen. The book is considered groundbreaking in the documentation of folk songs in Pakistan. It not only presents the songs in lyrical form but also divides them into chapters by genre, accompanied by detailed descriptions. The second part of the book provides an in-depth exploration of folk dances.
The second edition, revised by Parvez’s son, musicologist Akmal Parvez, introduced amended musical notations and a then-innovative approach to presenting the material. Following Ban Phulwari, Parvez produced Lok Theatre - Swaang, another significant contribution to the cultural heritage of Pothwar, where swaang or folk theatre once thrived.
“Afzal Parvez’s father had migrated from Kech Makran in Balochistan and made Rawalpindi his new intellectual home ”
Published in 1973, Ban Phulwari (meaning “flowers in full bloom”) by Afzal Parvez (1916–2001) is a seminal text on Pothwari and Punjabi folk songs.
Born on March 16, 1916, in Rawalpindi’s Telii Mohallah, Afzal Parvez was the son of Maulana Muhammad Kech Makrani, the first khateeb of the newly built Markazi Jamia Masjid, Rawalpindi, in 1905. Maulana Makrani, a hakeem by profession and a scholar of Balochi, Urdu, Arabic and Persian, also taught Persian at a school in Rawalpindi. Originally from Kech Makran in Balochistan, he had migrated to Rawalpindi in 1865, as the city expanded following British annexation in 1849. Settling in Telii Mohallah, Maulana Makrani established a magazine, Shahab-i-Saqib, in 1900, contributing to the city’s intellectual growth.
In his teenage years, Parvez was an enthusiastic pehlwan (wrestler) and practiced gatka (a traditional martial art). Later, he received formal mentorship in Urdu poetry from Abdul Hameed Adam, adopting the pen name, Parvez, during this period. He was a gifted writer. His literary talent became the foundation of his journalistic career during which he served as a reporter and sub-editor.
The establishment of Radio Pakistan-Rawalpindi in 1950 provided a new platform for local artists, writers and folk performers. In 1952, Parvez began his radio career with the programme Jamhoor Ni Waaz, where he played the beloved character “Chowdhry” alongside Akhter Jafferi and Baqi Siddiqui. Over nearly two decades, Parvez worked in various capacities at Radio Pakistan, contributing as a drama artist, scriptwriter and radio feature writer. He collaborated with notable figures such as Akhter Imam Rizvi, Tasadduq Hussain Shah, Muhammad Sadiq, Atta Hussain Kaleem and Fakhar-i-Alam Noumani.
By the early 1960s, Parvez’s poetry was gaining recognition in Indian literary magazines, connecting him with Indian writers. When Balraj Sahni visited Rawalpindi in 1962, he wrote about meeting Parvez, whose poetry he had read in Indian publications. Poetry remained Parvez’s first love throughout his life. In a 2000 interview with broadcaster and archivist Fiaz Kiani for Radio Pakistan-Rawalpindi, a few months before his death, Parvez fondly recalled his younger days when he kept two books under his pillow—Saif-ul-Malook and Hasrat Mohani’s poetry, bound together in a single hardback cover.
Ban Phulwari (1973) and Lok Theatre - Swaang (1988) are undoubtedly Afzal Parvez’s most influential works. Yet they cannot entirely encapsulate his vast literary legacy. Beyond these seminal contributions, his lifelong association with Radio Pakistan-Rawalpindi and his cultural reporting for Daily Jang in Rawalpindi reveal a folklorist’s enduring dedication to documenting and preserving local tradition. Parvez was a man of many talents—a classical vocalist trained by Ustad Nawab Ali Khan and Ustad Asad Ali Khan, who sang, composed and wrote lyrics for his songs; a non-conformist poet who lost his job in the Rationing Department after reciting a poem on the plight of the working class at a labour union event; a painter who not only designed book covers but also painted homes and marketplaces for a living; a drama artist and playwright; and a preserver of lost texts, exemplified by his compilation of Saaien Ahmed Ali’s poetry.
Parvez’s journey was long and arduous. It was marked by struggles to get published and writing in a language with a limited readership. Despite these challenges, he never sought acknowledgment in his lifetime. Yet, his towering legacy continues to inspire generations to highlight and preserve folk literature, regardless of the language in which it is written. Today, people like Shamsa Noreen, the late Syed Aal-i-Imran, Muntazir Imam, Yasir Kiyani, Shakoor Ahsan and Faisal Irfan are recognised as prominent voices in Pothwari literature. Among them, Faisal Irfan, a committed folklorist, shares Parvez’s ethos, refusing to wait for validation from established writers or institutions. Irfan’s latest work, Jhooty Laaray, a collection of Pothwari lullabies, is his fourth book on Pothwari folklore.
Individuals such as Noman Razzaq Warraich, with Pothwar Rehtal Osaar Rawalpindi and Hassan Nawaz Shah, through the Makhdooma Ameer Jan Library in Narali, Gujar Khan, to ensure the preservation of Pothwari literature and folklore are valuable. To honour Parvez’s legacy, local writers in Rawalpindi and Islamabad proposed the establishment of Afzal Parvez Folklore Award for young folklorists at the time of his passing. Presented only once, the award never gained sustained continuity. Had that happened, Faisal Irfan would undoubtedly have been a worthy recipient.
The writer is a historian, travel writer and translator. He researches on intellectual history, Persianate world connections and early Indian cinema