For Pakistani-Canadian translator and author, Musharraf Ali Farooqi, writing has meant leaving his country of birth (Pakistan) to find order and calm in another country, working as an assembly line worker in a restaurant and writing late into the night. Musharraf, whose book, A Story Of A Widow, was shortlisted for DSC Prize for South Asian Literature Prize in 2011, recently released his new children’s book, Tik-Tik, The Master Of Time. Tik-Tik and his friend, Nib-Nib live on a planet called Nopter and want to find a way to grow faster. Guided by Tik-Tik’s grandfather Kip-Kip, they land up on a “twisted planet” called Earth. Farooqi speaks about the pleasures of writing for children, and how Urdu literature has taught him everything he knows about writing.

Author Musharraf Ali Farooqi. Pic/Arif Mahmood