A new group of like-minded friends in the meantime emerged that decided to establish a platform to have regular meetings to develop aleftist discourse.

A few initial meetings were held at Prof Mateen`s residence in Rehmanpura attended among others by Tariq Masood, a respected trade union leader, and Rubiya Mehdi, a student activist. Soon some of its members shifted focus to Punjab, its history, culture and language criminally neglected by Punjabi academia.

It started having its meetings on the New Campus of the Punjab Universit y.

The founding members of this group included Najm Hosain Syed, Manzur Ejaz, Izzat Majid, Dr. Akmal Husain, Akram Varriach, Shujaul Haq, Azmat Qadir, Younas, Tahir Yasoob, Imtiaz Bano, Azmat Qadir, myself and a few others.

Keeping in view the extreme ideological polarisation at the University it was decided to move the venue of the weekly meeting to Najm Hosain Syed`s place who graciously offered to host it. This regular get-together eventually turned into a literary meeting that initiated a serious study of Punjab`s classical poetry.

This new cultural group also attracted intellectuals from the south Punjab. Prominent among them were Abid Ameeg, Irshad Taunsvi andAhsan Wagha who got inspired by the phenomenon of cultural renassiance.

Manzur, like so many young men and women, was fired by revolutionary ideas and Marxist thinking. With the passage of time he drifted towards the movement that emphasised the historical need for a cultural renaissance in the Punjab. It was a period of intense political ferment and the young carrying bool(s under their arms felt that a revolution was just around the corner.

`Revolution is knocking at our door` was the slogan.

Manzur had a passion for music. He himself was an amateur singer. He could sing Punjabi classical verses in his rustic voice. After switching over to Punjabi he published his first book of poetry jointly with Izzat Majid. But soon he paid the price for his views and activism; he was chucked out of his job at the university. To make a living, he, supported by friends, opened a bookshop `Punjab Adabi Markaz` at Mozang Chungi on the lower floor of Sanam cinema. The Markaz also dabbled in publishing but selling and publishing bool(s of progressive persuasion was hardly a commercial venture. On one of those days he married Atia Kaukab who proved to be a strong support for him.

After Ziaul Haq`s martial law, some friends including Najam Sethi advised him to move to the USA.

Many others, desperate and persecuted, followed a similar path; theyfound shelter in the West. He got his PhD degree in development economics from Howard University that got him a good government job. By the way, philosophy and economics are what Marxists love most. Most Marxists try to be philosophers as well as economists but usually fail on both counts.

As a social being Manzur loved to have people around. He had an open house. Visiting writers would stay with him. Kartar Singh Duggal, a celebrated writer and intellectual, had been one of his honoured guests. He didn`t publish anything for decades but living in a different culture only strengthened his love for his native land, its language and culture. But here is acontradiction.

Our leftists and nationalists believe that linguistic and cultural minorities should join the mainstream in Pakistan but members of the diaspora who work for the promotion of cultures and languages of the society they left for good are eulogised.

Manzur lived with this contradiction to the advantage of Punjabi language and culture. His strongest bond with Punjab was his intellectual work.

Soon after his arrival in the USA, he rightly realised that poetry was not his forte. So he developed his critical tools and focussed on his analytical writings. Later years of his life proved quite productive. He published his autobiography `Maindi Jindrippe ne, Tann Desaan Tera Taana (Squaringwith the warp and woof of life)` in 2019 which is a sanitised socio-cultural chronicle of our times. He avoided touching anything that would become controversial, personal and impersonal. Reviewing it I had written;`The remarkable aspect of the bool< is that he has desisted from compartmentalising his diverse experiences.` He seems to have consciously refrained from touching the recesses of his private life. His work Waris Nama` in five volumes which offers commentary on and explanation of Heer Waris Shah along with a complete glossary is impressive. It`s a guide for lay readers.

Another important book of his is `Punjab di Lok Tareekh` (a people`s history of Punjab). It was a bold book in the sense that it challenged some firmly held assumptions and premises about Punjab`s history, culture and language.

His other publications include `Falsafay di Tareekh` (a history of philosophy) that briefly traces both indigenous and western philosophical thought. He also had several other publications to his credit.

He had been a member of a theatre ensemble that managed to stage plays in Punjabi, Hindi and Urdu in America. Strangely, most of our writers and intellectuals are averse to modern technology, especially IT that has revolutionised our life. Manzur was not. He was rather fond of it and used it to build several media plat-forms for the dissemination of his ideas and work in collaboration with his friends. The platforms were designed to cater to collective literary and cultural needs. They are open to the public at large and encourage people`s participation. Lilce all sensitive individuals Manzur remained emotionally torn between his ancestral homeland and his adopted home.

In his recent phone call to me he said that he wanted to visit Pakistan and asked me if I could arrange an electric wheelchair and a specially equipped ambulance for his tour.

Lately he had met with a terrible road accident that damaged his ribcage and made his movement painful. His compulsive smoking added to his pain. I got back with the relevant information and then I didn`t hear from him for some weeks. On March 30, I was reminded of one of my favourite phrases from Waris Shah: `Sabha raet di kandh eh jivana a` (this life is a wall of sand). A blend of intellect and dedication is something rare; only exceptional individuals are gifted with it.

Manzur Ejaz was one such man. As his friend and a fellow writer I mourn him as well as celebrate him. Despite my long friendship with him I can`t claim I fully knew him because in the words of poet Brecht `he was the doer of more than his deed. soofi0l@hotmail.com (Concluded)