Patras Bokhari

Patras was born as Syed Ahmed Shah Bokhari on 1 October 1898 in Peshawar, North-West Frontier Province of British India to a Kashmiri father, who had migrated from Baramula, northern Kashmir in the 19th century. His Syed ancestors had migrated to Kashmir from Bukhara, Uzbekistan. In 1927, he returned to Government College, Lahore, and as a professor remained there until 1939. Before the independence of Pakistan in 1947, he was the director general of All India Radio. Being a professor of English Literature, he also served as the principal of Government College, Lahore from 1947 to 1950. The Urdu poets Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Noon Meem Rashid and Kanhaiyalal Kapoor were among his students. He was a member of Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan's delegation during his visit to the United States in 1950. He drafted the prime minister's speeches and public pronouncements. These have been published in a volume entitled Heart of Asia. It was his close association with Liaquat Ali Khan, which culminated in his posting as Pakistan's permanent representative at the United Nations (1951-1954). From 1954 to 1958 he served as the Undersecretary of the UN, Head of Information. ==Background to Pen Name Patras==

Ahmed Shah Bokhari first started using a pen name Peter, in respect of his teacher Peter Watkins, when he wrote in English. In his Urdu writings he used the pen name Patras. According to Khaled Ahmed, The House of Patras which appeared in The Friday Times, Lahore, on 13 May 1999, Patras is a Persian adaptation of an Arabic rendering of 'Peter'. An extract from Bokhari's brother autobiography about the orientation of ASB's pen name is: "My brother's full name was Pir Syed Ahmed Shah Bokhari. Our headmaster (in Peshawar) Mr. Watkins addressed him by his first name ‘Pir’ but pronounced it as ‘Pierre’ as if it was a French word. Pierre in French stands for Peter, which is Patras in Greek.... As a result of this similarity, my brother took up ‘Patras’ as his pen name". ==Contributions==

His collection of essays, Patras Kay Mazameen (پطرس کے مضامین) published in 1927 is said to be an asset in Urdu humor writings. It is undoubtedly one of the finest works in Urdu humor and despite the fact that it was written in first half of twentieth century, it seems to be truly applicable even today. He lived in times of personalities like Allama Iqbal and had interacted with him on several occasions and engaged him in philosophical debates. One of his debates with Iqbal led to creation of one of his poems in his book Zarb-e-Kaleem. ==Death and legacy==

In 1923, he married Zubaida Wanchoo, a Punjabi-speaking Kashmiri lady, and daughter of a superintendent of police. They had three children – two sons Mansoor and Haroon, and a daughter Roshan Ara. Roshan Ara died as a child. Patras Bokhari died on December 5, 1958 after a heart attack, still serving as a diplomat and is buried in Valhalla Cemetery, New York. A major Pakistani English language newspaper The Friday Times comments about him, "In addition he inspired great devotion and love in his friends, companions and students." ==Awards and recognition==

• He was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Indian Empire (CIE) in the 1944 Birthday Honours list. • In October 1998, to mark his birth centenary, the Pakistan Post Office issued a commemorative postage stamp in his honor under the series, "Pioneers of Pakistan". • On 14 August 2003 President of Pakistan, General Pervez Musharraf, announced the conferment of Hilal-e-Imtiaz, the country's second highest civilian award, posthumously on Bokhari. This award was formally conferred on 23 March 2004. • Dr. Anwar Dil, a well known Pakistan writer based in the US published a book on Patras Bokhari in 1998 called "On This Earth Together" in 1998, after 20 years of painstaking research in the US and Pakistan. • The Government of Tunisia, named a road after him in Tunis, in recognition for his contribution towards the freedom of Tunisia from French Colonial Rule in 1956. There is also a road named after him in Islamabad, Pakistan. • Government College University, Lahore, Pakistan named their auditorium "Bokhari Auditorium" to honour him. ==References==