Younos Hussain

Mohammad Younus, known as Younos Hussain, was born on 5 January 1969 in Gwadar, Balochistan, Pakistan. He passed his matriculation exam at Government High School Gwadar in 1985 and his intermediate exam at Urdu College, Karachi, in 1988. He is working as a laboratory technician at Civil Hospital, Gwadar, where he is in charge of the Thalassemia Centre.

Younos began his writing career by writing stage dramas in Urdu. At the time, he felt that he did not know how to write in Balochi, but the renowned writer A. R. Dad, also represented in the volume, encouraged him to try his hand at it. His first Balochi short story, Bándátay Wáb (The Dream of Tomorrow), was published in the monthly magazine Ásáp (203) in 1996. Since then he has continued writing short stories, stage dramas, and film scripts in Balochi. He has written scripts for a number of films. Most of them are of an entertaining character and can be found on the Khair Jan Art Academy’s YouTube channel. (204) Two of the most popular of these are Zahr Makan Zargol (Don’t Get Angry, Zargol), and Mehrok (Mehrok). (205) So far, his works have not been compiled into a book, however.

Two of Younos Hussain’s short stories have received awards. He received the Sayad Dad (206) award in 2008 for his story Bédastén Sarichk (The Handless Scarecrow), which was published in the monthly magazine Sechkán (207) the same year. In 2018, he received the Estin Award (208) for his story Násarjamén Kessah (The Incomplete Story), published the same year in the quarterly magazine Chammag. (209)

Younos is General Secretary of Khair Jan Art Academy, Gwadar, which was founded in 2000 for the purpose of promoting Balochi art and films. (210) This academy provides a platform to Baloch artists, be they storytellers, actors, musicians or painters. It organizes an annual cultural festival and other cultural events.

Younos Hussain’s style is simple and communicative. He is not afraid of writing on taboo subjects. In the story presented in this book, Taw Mahnáza Nabay (Not as Chaste as Mahnaz), (211) he treats the subject of female sexuality, disguised in the character of a female dog.