Seeing Vs Observing – What A Diarist Can Learn From Sherlock Holmes

Seeing Vs Observing – What A Diarist Can Learn From Sherlock Holmes.

Key points

• "And for that, we have an excellent teacher in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes." Professor Zafar Hassan looked at him with interest.
• Holmes had counted them. When Courts Suspend Recovery, Can FBR Still Levy Default Surcharge?
• Rafiq Mangi and I went to see Professor Zafar Hassan, a Geography professor at the University of Sindh, Jamshoro.
• 15 Years On, What Did the US Truly Learn From the Iraq War?
• "What should we write in a diary or a notebook?" What Punjab Can Learn From Punjab.

Step back to a spring evening in 1989, where a casual visit with literary giants sparked a discussion on the essence of writing. I remember. It was an evening in late spring, 1989.

Rafiq Mangi and I went to see Professor Zafar Hassan, a Geography professor at the University of Sindh, Jamshoro. He was additionally an editor, compiler, short-story writer, and politically conscious educationist. His official residence stood beside the Institute of Sindhology on the university's main campus. We knocked at the gate. Within minutes, a peon opened it and arranged four iron chairs near a sukh-chain tree. Shortly, Professor Zafar Hassan came out to welcome us. We settled into our chairs and began talking regarding diary writing, one of his favourite subjects. Professor Hassan was himself a dedicated diarist who kept a diary regularly.

Meanwhile, a few minutes afterwards, the gate bell rang again. Instead of waiting for the peon, Professor Zafar rose and went to see who had arrived. He shortly returned with Haleem Brohi, a novelist, author, celebrated satirist, and writer in both Sindhi and English. At the time, Haleem was a regular contributor to the English evening newspaper The Star.

Haleem held an unlit cigarette in his hand. He never smoked in front of Professor Zafar Hassan. Professor Zafar was strongly resisted to smoking; if a magazine carried a cigarette, he would even cancel his subscription.

Haleem took his chair, crossed his left leg over his right, and raised a hand as if asking permission to enter the discussion. "What is common between a diary and a journal?" he asked. For a moment, we remained silent.

Haleem smiled. With a small gesture, he indicated that he wanted to step outside for a cigarette. Then he offered his answer.

"They have one thing in common, " he remarked. "Both are sold at a stationery shop."

He moved towards the gate, but after a few steps, he turned back.

"But the real question remains, " he remarked. "What should we write in a diary or a notebook?" What Punjab Can Learn From Punjab.

Seven or ten minutes afterwards, Haleem returned. He sat down again and repeated the question. "What should we write in a diary?" He paused, looked at Professor Zafar Hassan, and continued.

"More importantly, what should a diarist learn before putting anything on paper?" This time, he did not wait for an answer.

"The art of observation, " he remarked. "And for that, we have an excellent teacher in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes." Professor Zafar Hassan looked at him with interest. Haleem leaned back in his chair. "So, " he asked, "what can a diarist learn from Sherlock Holmes?" That question opened a much larger conversation.

Haleem held the unlit cigarette between his fingers and looked at Professor Zafar Hassan.

"Let us begin with Holmes, " he remarked. "Not with the mystery he solves, but with the way he looks at the world." Professor Hasan leaned back in his chair. "What does a diarist have to learn from a detective?"

"Quite a lot, " Haleem replied. "A good detective and a good diarist commence with the same discipline. Both must pay attention."

"The first story in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes?" Professor Hassan asked.

"Yes. That story gives us one of Holmes's most useful lessons. Watson believes that his eyesight is as good as Holmes's. Holmes does not disagree. Instead, he draws a distinction between seeing and observing."

While the diarist has another purpose: to preserve a moment before time alters it, the detective searches for clues since he wants to solve a case. "But what does that mean for a diarist?" "It means that looking is not enough. A diarist must notice." Zoom Courtrooms: What Pakistan Can Learn From Canada's Virtual Court Proceedings.

"Anyone can see a room. The diarist notices its light, its furniture, its windows, and the way individuals occupy the space. Anyone can meet a person. The diarist watches the face, the hands, the voice, and the pauses. Anyone can walk through an old building. The diarist notices the blocked doorway, the faded sign, the repaired wall, or the new wire running throughout the old surface." "You want the diarist to become a detective?" "No. I want the diarist to become more attentive." He tapped the cigarette lightly against his palm.

"The detective searches for clues since he wants to solve a case. The diarist has another purpose. He wants to preserve a moment before time alters it." Professor Hassan looked towards the garden. "Why do small details matter so much?" "Because they often survive when larger things disappear."

"Years afterwards, you may forget the exact words of a conversation. You may forget who entered the room first. You may even forget what began the discussion. Yet you may remember where you were sitting. You may remember the light on the wall. You may remember a person's hands or the sound of a gate opening." "Then should a diarist record everything?" "No. That would bury the day under detail." "And how does he know what will matter later?" That answer created Professor Hassan smile.

"It makes it honest, " Haleem replied. "The diarist cannot know which detail memory will keep. He can only remain awake to the moment." Surviving The Century: Pakistan Must Learn To Stand Alone.

"Suppose you enter an old building and decide at once that it has been neglected. What will you notice?" "Broken windows. Cracked walls, " Professor Hassan replied. "Exactly. Your conclusion has already chosen the evidence for you." "And if I suspend the conclusion?" Haleem began to count on his fingers.

"You may find one room still in employ. Someone may have repaired part of the roof. A new electrical connection may run along an old wall. An earlier doorway may have been blocked. Meanwhile, a faded sign may remain beneath a newer one." "Now the building tells a more complicated story." "So the first impression can mislead us."

"It can narrow our vision, " Haleem remarked. "Holmes keeps looking because he knows that the first explanation may not be the right one." "That is why I would give a diarist one rule." "What if I think I understand someone's behaviour?" "Suppose a person pauses before answering?" "And if someone avoids a particular name?" "What if I believe I know the reason?"

"Then mark it as your impression. Do not turn your impression into a fact." "That rule would help a historian too."

"Especially a historian, " Haleem replied. "The historian works with evidence that has already survived the passage of time. The diarist records evidence while the moment is still alive."

15 Years On, What Did the US Truly Learn From the Iraq War? Haleem settled deeper into his chair. "A diarist must also watch people."

"A nervous person may keep moving his hands while speaking. A tired person may sit down before anyone invites him. Someone may smile when an old memory returns. Another person may fall silent when a particular name enters the conversation." Professor Hassan asked, "Would you write that the person was nervous?" "I would write what I saw."

"I might write that he kept rubbing his fingers together while answering." "And leave the reader to decide?"

"Leave the future reader to decide. More importantly, leave your future self room to decide." "That sounds very much like Holmes."

"Holmes does not need to announce that a man is nervous. He notices the evidence. He watches the hands, listens to the voice, and studies the behaviour. Then he draws his conclusion." "And the diarist should do the same?"

"Yes, but with one difference. Holmes uses observation to solve a mystery. The diarist uses observation to preserve experience." "Holmes gives us an even simpler example, " Haleem continued. "Remember the story: A Scandal in Bohemia."

"Watson had walked those steps plenty of times. He had seen them. Holmes had counted them." When Courts Suspend Recovery, Can FBR Still Levy "Default Surcharge"?

"Those steps explain the difference between seeing and observing. Watson was not blind. He simply had no reason to count them. Holmes trained himself to notice what others passed without thought." Professor Hassan looked towards the doorway. "So what should a diarist count?" "Whatever helps him recover the moment."

"The number of windows may matter. The colour of a door may matter. The position of a tree may matter. The sound coming from the street may matter. Even the way someone holds a cup may matter." "That sounds like a lifetime of noticing." For a moment, Haleem remarked nothing. Then he spoke more quietly.

"Exact words disappear. Voices fade. Dates become uncertain. Sometimes the sequence of an event becomes confused."

"A chair may bring back a conversation. A doorway may recall a visitor. An old photograph may restore a room that no longer exists. A familiar road may return an entire journey."

Professor Hassan asked, "So the diarist should record the setting as well as the event?" "Yes. The setting gives the event somewhere to live."

Taken together, the developments around seeing Vs Observing – What A Diarist Can Learn From Sherlock Holmes point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.