Saḥar hone tak
Edition: first
Publisher: Mithals
Published: 1965
Place of publication: New Delhi, India
Language: urd
Number of pages: 386
Subjects: An early and legendary Bollywood film writer's autobiography
Genres: Autobiography
First sentence: In the Roman script: "Ek kitaab har shaksh kee zindagi may hotee hai lekin os kitab ko sine ki gehraiyon se bahar nikal lana har shakhs ka kam naheen hai." (Translation by Zuhair Kashmeri: "There is a book buried within the life of every human, but to extract that narrative from the depth of one's soul is not everyday fare.")
Description: The autobiography of one of India's most well-known screenplay, dialogue and story (movie) writers, who entertained six generations of moviegoers with almost 60 movies written in Urdu (Hindustani).  It spans his childhood in Lucknow, India, details how he ran away from home to act in a movie, Shan-e-Subha, being shot in Rangoon, Burma, offered the role of hero after a soccer match that he was playing. A confused childhood, lively details of his struggle to reach the top which he did, his love affairs and romances, all very candid in this book that reads like a visual commentary delivered in a movie. Copies of the book in Urdu and Hindu are with his son, Zuhair Kashmeri in Niagara on the Lake, Ontario, Canada, who is translating them into English (kash@mediaminders.info). He and his brother Sarwar of Reading, Vermont, USA, hold the copyright to both the Urdu and Hindi books. In English he also went by Agha Jani Kashmeri and also Kashmiri. He retired in Toronto, Canada, and died on March 27, 1998. He is buried in Toronto with his wife, Khursheed Kashmeri (nee Kazi). He wanted the following ashar (couplet) to be inscribed on his tombstone in Toronto, which I did: "Zamana bade shauk se sun raha tha / Hamee so gaye dastaan kehte, kehte."  (The world kept listening with rapt attention / It is I who feel asleep before the final mention."
Notes: The book was also published in Hindi, using the Devnagri script.  In Hindi, the title was Subha Hone Tak.  Although the bulk of the book is a transliteration, it utilizes several Hindi words, which in some ways act as obstacles to the lilting rhythm of the original Urdu text. (Zuhair Kashmeri)