Some people are a little before their time. Some live for a short span of time yet leave very deep impressions on the canvas they work on. Idrees Ahmad was one such journalist. The present day penchant for talk shows was an idea first initiated by him by the name of Studio 2 on PTV. Today these are the most popular programs in Pakistan. So much so that a person visiting from another country can safely conclude that people in this country either watch talk shows or cooking programs.
In addition to this he used to write regularly in The Pakistan Times. His column was religiously followed by a large number of people.
Once he had taken some medicine which turned out to be spurious and nearly killed him. I dont know if it was that or time had just run out on him but the upshot of it all was that he developed heart problem. Like most people he went to Boston but they refused because heart valve change was not possible in those days. He told all his fans through his columns. This was one ailment which he shared with Gov. Ghulam Jilani.
Today I feel amazed by the fact that no one seems to remember him or the fact that he was the person who brought this talk show thing to our channels.
Zia Mohiudin also did the same thing but his topics were more social and light. Idrees used to bring out the problems of the city or the country in the open. It was this creative effort and his charisma which kept people riveted to the tube for over an hour every week.
