Syed Ahmed Shah commonly known as Patras Bokhari born on October 1898 in Peshawar - was an Urdu humourist, educator, essayist, broadcaster and diplomat from Pakistan. He is best known for his humorous writings in Urdu literature.
Born in Peshawar into a Kashmiri family (which migrated from Baramulla). Bokhari received his early education in the city of his birth and in 1916 moved from Islamia College Peshawar to attend Government College, Lahore. After completing his Masters in English he was appointed as lecturer at the same institution. In 1922, he took his MA in English after just one year's study and stood first, after which he was appointed lecturer at the College. This was his creative period. His bilingual excellence is owed to his intensive translation of great books and plays from English to Urdu. He was tall and blue-eyed, had a razor-sharp mind, an equally sharp tongue, and a keenness to go forward in life.
Bukhari left Government College, Lahore in 1925 in order to complete a Tripos in English at Emmanuel College, Cambridge. Many years later, the Bukhari English Prize was established there in his honor.
In 1927, he returned to Government College, Lahore, and as a Professor remained there until 1939. Before the formation 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 and Noon Meem Rashid, were among his students. After the formation of Pakistan, In 1950, he was a member of Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan's entourage during his visit to the United States. All the speeches and public pronouncement of the late Prime Minister were drafted by him. These have since been published in a volume entitled Heart of Asia. It was close association with Liaquat Ali Khan, which culminated in his posting as Pakistan's Permanent Representative at the United Nations. he served as the first permanent representative of Pakistan in the United Nations from 1951–1954. From 1954–1958 he remained as the Under Secretary of the UN, Head of Informon.
In New York, Bukhari lives in a small house on a small street along the East River that is the quintessence of exclusivity. But it is a simply furnished home, strewn with books – books on tables and on the floor, books singly and books in piles. All of them are evidence of the academic life from which Pakistan's shortage of trained men diverted him into diplomacy. He used four languages at home – the local dialect, Persian, Urdu and Pashto.
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, in his article 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 Z.A. Bokhari's 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".
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 & Haroon, and a daughter Roshan Ara. Roshan Ara died as a child. He died on 5 December 1958 during his diplomatic service and is buried in Valhalla Cemetery, New York.
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.
