It’s Me – Author Bio S.A.J. Shirazi

S.A.J. Shirazi is a writer, educator, linguist, translator, and well, blogger. His writing on travel, Information Technology, heritage, behavioral sciences, political economy, environment, public relations and management practices appear in Dawn, the News, the Nation, Spider, BootsnAll, CISP across Canada and other publications. Shirazi holds an MBA and linguistics (Russian) degrees. He has authored two books (Izhar, Ret Pe Tehreer – Urdu language).

Okay, now that we’ve gotten that referring-to-myself-in-the-third-person part out of the way, here’s the more human, less quantifiable description.

I obsessed with the virtual word, and forms of mass media at hand and cultures beyond borders. I’m always looking for new places and friends. I am committed and admire human relationships, consistency, and the trip to Food and Heritage Street, Lahore (Pakistan) – tons of mutton is consumed in this street every night. Nikhat (flower), fairies, roaming around in the unknown, and this life thrill me.

Most of my traveling has been in the back of army trucks and or on foot (they call it reconnaissance). I might have traveled al along the Pakistani borders – from Karachi in south to Chitral up in the north. I started enjoying writing when my name first appeared in print in weekly Hilal, a small departmental publication. And it was Afsana (short story). The then editor Iqbal Malik urged me "to forget fiction and write what you see."

In our part of the world, Urdu writers are mostly not paid. Therefore, I turned to English and started in daily Dawn. Cheques started appearing and till date I am writing professionally (confession: for others sometimes and for the cheques that pour in). That is when I turned professional writer. Though I still am an immature human.

I roam in search of ideas and find that those who hatch them tend not to leave behind things large or attractive enough to ogle. So it is normal when I go to a place of great historic value but find nothing worth the visit. Usually, I come across, if I am lucky, with a plaque or just an intrinsic thought. Now I expect, more or less, nothing wherever I go. And whatever I find makes a story.

I’d rather be on a roller coaster or rock repelling beyond Chillas or collecting wild barriers in the salt range than be typing this.

PS: See bloggy writings are here:
Light Within
Fine Art of Blogging
Thatta Kedona
Doodh Patti

My email is: sajshirazi(at)gmail(dot)com

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