Sarood-E-Azali

The book is written by the well known historian K. K. Aziz. It was a collection of poetic pieces that the author has collected over his entire life (a time period of 60 years as the author himself mentioned). The pieces are mostly from ghazals from various poets. These poets were known to the author because he used to sit with them at Pak Tea House or they were known through him from his college days.
The book has two parts. First part is a collection of two liners from various ghazals of different poets while part two is comprise of one liners.
The book is an enjoyable read. Especially the introduction is most enjoyable and provide a good proof of the author’s good command and taste of urdu language.
However, the book collects mostly the poetic pieces of author’s youthful days. So naturally, the majority of them are romantic and banal in terms of imagination. The one that a person enjoys in his/her youth but not in more mature years. It would be far better if the author provides at least two pieces from the same ghazal so that the reader get a good idea of the underlying rhythm of the ghazal.
Overall the books is a nice collection but author could provide more information about the poets and probably add a farhang or glossary of terms to make the book suitable for 21st century students.