Pressure Cooker / پریشر ککر

by Siddique Salik

349 pages, Hardcover

About the author

Brigadier-General Muhammad Siddique Salik (محمد صدیق سالک) was a Pakistani writer, a high profile military officer and public face of President General Zia-ul-Haq’s military government.
He was born in Manglia, a village in Kharian, District Gujrat, Punjab, British India. He graduated from Islamia College, Lahore earning a master’s degree in English literature and a diploma in International Relations. During his student days he edited college magazines Crescent and Faran.
Initially he taught English in Faisalabad and Mansehra but quit teaching after a few years and joined, as an assistant editor, Pak Jamhooriyat, an English weekly published by the Government of Pakistan. In 1964, he joined Pakistan army and was appointed in Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) as staff officer grade 3. In 1965, he witnessed and covered the Indo-Pak war of 1965. In 1970, he was sent to East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) as Major, where he was made a prisoner of war by India. He was incarcerated in Agra jail before being shifted to various other prisons. He wrote a book titled “Witness to Surrender” (Urdu version: میں نے ڈھاکہ ڈوبتے دیکھا) based on his recollection of the 1971 war and fall of Dhaka. Another book “Humaa Yaraan Dozakh" (ہمہ یاراں دوزخ), which is a recollection of his years as a prisoner of war in India.
He was eventually handed over to Pakistan under the Simla Agreement and returned home in 1973. After 1977 coup, he was made General Zia-ul-Haq’s speech writer and press secretary. Later on, he was appointed as media minister and Directorate-General of ISPR under military government. He died on 17 August 1988, in a plane crash with President Zia-ul-Haq and other high ranking personalities.
Siddique Salik authored 6 Urdu and 3 English books that include:

- Witness to Surrender
- میں نے ڈھاکہ ڈوبتے دیکھا
- ہمہ یاراں دوزخ
- تا دمِ تحریر
- ایمرجنسی
- پریشرکُکر
- سلیوٹ
- State vs Politics, A case study of Pakistan.
- Wounded Pride

Reviews

[Iqra · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was the name that attracted me, during reading i felt so depressed yet every word of it was so true...

It's a story of an artist who faced many hardships in his life but still he stuck to his work/to his art, he wanted to draw attention of people towards brutality, poverty & cruelty through his art. He always wanted to do something extraordinary but he never got any chance. So writer relates his life to a Pressure Cooker which has a capacity & when there is maximum pressure inside then it burst out....

[Sadaf · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Witty, Humorous, Thrilling sensation. although a fiction but there is so much truth in it.
I am sure once you start you wont stop till you have turned over the last page of the book and then you will start craving for more

[W · Rating 3 out of 5]

The pressure cooker,is life itself.It is a bleak tale of a man struggling with life's harsh realities,as misfortune piles upon misfortune.Eventually,the pressure cooker bursts.

[Shreky Sindhu · Rating 2 out of 5]

As the title suggests, it was a depressing story.. am still in disbelief regarding the title image of the book.. it doesn't go well with neither the content, nor the theme of the novel.. i still wonder what is the purpose of showing olives here ?

[Zohaib Hassan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finest Book.
It's a Fiction But Seems Like Every word Is True

[Maqsood Alam · Rating 1 out of 5]

Every page leads you toward depression...

[Bilal Hashmi · Rating 3 out of 5]

صدیق سالک نے ایک "نوجوان آرٹسٹ" کے کردار کے روپ میں اپنا آئیڈیل کردار پیش کیا ہے جیسا کہ ان کی کتاب "سلیوٹ" پڑھ کر اندازہ ہوتا ہے۔ اس ناول کا یہ نوجوان ایک غریب گھرانے سے پروان چڑھنے والا ایک فلسفی مصور ہے جو معاشرے کی صحیح تصویر اپنے کینوس پر دکھانا چاہتا ہے مگر معاشرے کے سب طبقات اس کے دشمن ہیں جو اس پر طرح طرح کے مصائب کا سبب بنتے ہیں۔ حتی کہ اس کی رفیقہ حیات کو اس کا ساتھ دینے کو تیار نہیں۔ حالات کے اسی گرداب میں ایک عرصے تک پیچ و تاب کھاتے رہنے کے بعد بالآخر یہ دماغی توازن کھو بیٹھتا ہے اور گھر سے غائب ہو جاتا ہے۔ ناول کا آئیڈیا انوکھا سا ہے اگرچہ کہانی روایتی انداز کی ہے۔ بلا وجہ کی تفصیلات اور طوالت بھی نہیں ہے تاہم کچھ جگہ زیادہ ہی اختصار ہے۔ ناول کا نام بھی کچھ دل میں اترنے والا نہیں ہے نہ ہی سرورق پر کچھ محنت کی گئی ہے۔

[Khawar Shehzad]

The story narrated in the novel revolves around the virtuous nature of an artist who faced humility because of his art work. He always painted what he saw in Pakistani society-poverty, inequalities, injustices and libel. Fitrat, the main character of the novel chose art as his passion and profession. But due to his non-conformist nature he could not compromise with the norms of society. He was labeled KGB agent and some time as CIA agent. He was a true Muslim and always advocated virtue. At the end he fed up from the behavior of society after remaining in pressure cooker far years. Ultimately, one day he vanished in search of peace of mind and left behind his wife and two children.

[Omama. · Rating 3 out of 5]

True depiction of the moral decay of Pakistani society, is described in each and every way of life. When I started this book, judging by the title I thought of reading a military humorous story by Siddique Salik, but as the story goes on, i got fully immersed in it. A story of a young depressed man, who started facing the harsh calamities of life from a very early age. Despite being such a good artist with a great sense of imagination and the inner eye, he had to bear the brunt of everyday life in a conservative mainstream society who cannot tolerate novelty and new ideas. This goes on to a point where he finally lost his sanity and the pressure cooker building inside him for many years exploded.
The most interesting part of this novel was the fine arts classes, college days, America’s tour, it’s art centres, and the main protagonist’s insightful and thought-provoking paintings.

[Sana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I told somebody about this book some time ago and she asked me whether it was a cooking book!
Well no, I don't think cooking was ever mentioned in it.
But one thing is certain: the whole book is just as witty as its name. Its narrative is in the backdrop of Pakistani society in 60s and 70s when there was a movement building up called "Taraqqi Pasand Tehreek" meaning liberalism or leftism. Many people had publicly started adopting the belief in communism and opposing the government policies. The story is about an artist Abdul Fitrat. The writer narrates the difficulties he had to face in a society where an artist, particularly a painter has no skills that could earn his family enough resources to make a decent living. Meanwhile, he is vocal about the wrongs prevailing in the socioeconomic setup of Pakistan and represents them in his paintings, for which he gets fired and was then forced to support his family with minor even shameful jobs quite unworthy of his talents.
Pressure Cooker is a symbolic name for the social and economic setup that forces a man to struggle ceaselessly and still remain faced with the guilt and helplessness at not being able to fulfill his obligations.
I read this book a long time ago and I cannot talk about the details now but it is a must read for all Urdu literature fans.

[Samar · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very homely title but I assure you an extremely non-homely content lies within. It is tragic, depressing at times but so captivating in its pathos that you cannot resist reading till the very end. The end is so abrupt, potent, startling that you keep staring at the book lost for hours wondering what happened. And whether that was the true solution? If it could have turned out better? But how? How we are the very minute fabric of society within ourselves, and hence did we contribute to the protagonists torments? And so on. One of the first Urdu books I read and it has stayed with me since. Bitter but true.

[Junaid Iqbal]

awesome

[AsimaB · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't understand the protagonist's pressure...What did he want? To paint whatever he wanted, using others money, ignoring his responsibilities and be appreciated for that???

[Ubaid Ullah]

unique book