People, Places & Pickles” written by Dr Aamer Sarfraz consists of short stories and essays on a diverse range of topics related to people, religion and social norms & values.
‘Withering Roots’ is written about history, events, specialties and current situation of Lyallpur, now Faisalabad, in a very descriptive and different way. The introduction and proceeding is very dramatic but he feels sorrow for the changed condition of the city. ‘The Prince’ is story of Muhammad Masud Raza Khan, a very genius and talented man of Jhelum who spent a large part of his life in London as a Psychiatrist and did tremendous work in psychology. Writer has great admiration and respect for Masud Khan.
‘Pennies from Heaven’ is name of a film and writer has related an incident of his real life with that movie in an amusing manner. He himself enjoys the incident a lot. In ‘Polygamy-A Socio-religious Conundrum’ the concept of multi-marriages is discussed in views of Christians, Jews and Muslims. ‘Morbid Self: A Personal
Tragedy’ is story of a famous politician’s daughter who was also very enthusiastic and good at politics but got some psychological disorder and failed to do well in practical field.
‘Suicide among Muslims’ is based on effects of Islam on suicide rates among Muslims. It is a case study of young male Muslim who committed a successful suicide. ‘Barking Mad’ is a dialogue between a lawyer and accused. It’s funny to conclude, either lawyer had been a psychological patient or the accused. Dialogue is open ended yet written in a very realistic way.
‘Iqbal & Ahmadiyya’ is written on the fact of Ahmadi Firqa, that how it came into existence and how it was cursed and separated from Muslims’ category. Iqbal was first man to recognize and highlight this “Biddatt” (reform). It has been discussed very logically and in detail.
‘Games that people Play’ is written about his school friends, their past and present condition and the way they behave in society. Most of them are his patients for psychological treatment. “Sufi Method” is a spiritual therapy method which he uses for some of his patients. Relation of Pir-Murid is discussed in detail. While ‘Different Sorts’ is a collection of different behaviors at different times and the behavioural change from person to person according to nature. He shares different experiences of his patients and folks. In ‘Understanding Revelation’ writer has described the term of revelation according to the views of his many patients. These are short relevant case studies of them. In ‘The Mating Game’ author has discussed the psychological aspects of sexuality among men and women and the difference of their behavior.
The topics, he chose, are very close to reality and life. His thoughts and ideas are very interesting and have been expressed in a very careful way. Simple language is used and the demonstration of situation is quit vivid. The readers can see it through imaginations.
Sometimes author is influenced by his own judgment and gave biased opinion so the readers are not forced to agree. As the author is a psychiatrist so all of his writing moves around psyche and his experiences of career in psychology. All the issues are logic based and informative. He has the skill of creating and maintaining curiosity.
We recommend that books lovers should read it in leisure time to get and enjoy the interest and depth of study. We are sure; you will gain a lot and will not regret reading it as it gives a pleasure and projection therapy to your mind.
From people to places and pickles
