Mustansar Hussain Tarar (Mustanṣar Ḥusẹ̄n Tāraṙ) S.I. (born 1 March 1939) is a Pakistani author, travel enthusiast, mountaineer, writer, novelist, columnist, TV host and former actor.

Early life

Mustansar Hussain Tarar was born in Lahore on 1 March 1939. His father, Rehmat Tarar, operated a small agricultural seed store by the name of "Kisan & Company" that later flourished to become a major business in that field. Tarar was educated at Rang Mahal Mission High School and Muslim Model High School, both in Lahore, Pakistan. He pursued higher studies at Government College, Lahore and in London. While abroad, he spent much of his time watching movies, hanging out with friends and reading books. In 1958, he attended the World Youth Festival in Moscow and wrote a book named Fakhta (Urdu. "Dove") based on his experience.

Career

He has written more than 75 books, including novels and travelogues, not mentioning his collection of short stories. His first book was a travelogue of Europe published in 1971 by the title of Niklay Teri Talaash Main (1970), dedicated to his youngest brother, Mobashir Hussain Tarar. This followed a period during which he travelled in seventeen European countries, and spearheaded a new trend of travelogues in Urdu literature. So far he has over forty travelogues ('Safar Nama' in Urdu) to his credit. He also became a television actor and was, for many years, a host of Pakistan Television Corporation's (PTV) live morning show Subah Bakhair (1988) (Good Morning). His unconventional and down-to-earth style of hosting earned him great popularity among people from all circles of life. He is one of the most recognised personality among Pakistani children as he spent a big part of transmission time addressing children exclusively. He called himself chacha jee (paternal uncle) of all Pakistani children and soon became known by this title. Shadi Online was a matrimonial show conceived by a private TV channel (Geo TV). It ran for more than 350 episodes and later was turned into an online matrimonial website. Tarar was selected as the host due to the trust of people, especially parents, had in him. Tarar has been an active mountaineer for many years and has been to the base camp of the K2, the world's second highest mountain, and the Chitti Buoi Glacier.

Columns as a journalist and books

During his long career, he has been a newspaper columnist and a contributor to Pakistani newspapers including Dawn and Daily Aaj, and used to write a weekly column for Akhbar-e-Jahan. His books include:

Drama

He is also the author of many famous drama series for Pakistan Television Corporation or PTV.

Travelogue writer

As a mountaineer and a travelogue writer himself, Tarar has long promoted the cause of tourism projects in the Northern Areas of Pakistan.

Awards and recognition