KARACHI: A few interesting book launches added a bit more oomph to the third and last day of the 6th Karachi Literature Festival at the Beach Luxury Hotel on Sunday.

The first book was a compilation of a detailed interview of eminent writer Qurratulain Hyder titled Andaz-i-Bayan Aur edited by Jameel Akhtar. Giving her view on the writer and her work poet Azra Abbas went down memory lane when she first met her in Delhi at critic Shamim Hanafi’s place.

She was so in awe of Hyder that she couldn’t speak to her for a considerable period of time. Later that day, Hyder herself walked up to her and said, “You look stupid, how can you write good poems?”

Ms Abbas said that the first time she read Hyder’s novel Aag Ka Darya she couldn’t understand it. It was after reading it for a couple of more times that she began to get the hang of the writer’s style. About the book edited by Jameel Akhtar, she said the questions raised in it were relevant to date.

Ameena Saiyid, who is Hyder’s niece, said as a young girl she was intimidated by the writer. Only after when she started visiting her in Delhi that things began to ease out for her. She revealed that Hyder was not only a great writer but was a painter, had a great sense of humour and could mimic people. Talking about her stint as a journalist, she said Hyder had worked for the Daily Telegraph in London, a job that she earned on merit. Syeda Arifa Zehra conducted the programme.

The second book that was launched immediately after that was Ali Akbar Natiq’s novel Nau Lakhi Kothi.

Journalist and writer Mohammed Hanif, who moderated the event, claimed that Mr Natiq had the ability to take people by surprise. He said once he started reading the book he couldn’t put it down.

Replying to Mr Hanif’s question about how the writer managed to dabble in different genres (poetry, short story, novel), Mr Natiq said they did not differ from one another. Speaking on his novel he said four or five years back he was struck by its plot. First he thought he should write a short piece on it, only to realise that it had a big canvas. He wrote the book in six months and fine-tuned it for two more.

A session on the topic ‘The English language literatures of South Asia: do they interact with each other?’ was hosted by critic Muneeza Shamsie. Ms Shamsie gave a very impressive overview of the history of English writings in the subcontinent. She said it was in 1795 that the first book in English written by an Indian writer saw the light of day. Bengal used to be the centre for Indian English. Shahid Suharwardy’s book (1937) was widely regarded as the first modern book of poetry in English by an Indian. The partition of the subcontinent caused disconnect. In the 1960s the discourse between Pakistani and Indian writers began, but the 1971 war disrupted things. However, literatures continued to grow.

Celebrated writer Intizar Husain speaking at a session on Sunday.—White Star

Writer H. M. Naqvi narrated an anecdote when at the Sharjah Literary Festival he was suddenly asked to speak on a book written in Malayalam about which he had no idea. The speakers there spoke Malayalam.

When he was invited to express his views he had to say something. So he started off by stating some facts (that he was from Karachi, Pakistan) and then mentioned a few names of the writers from the southern part of India. Somehow he managed to know the name of the writer whose book was being discussed and escaped the situation without getting embarrassed. He said he was asked by a Malawian author because he had read his (Mr Naqvi’s) work in English. This led him to conclude that despite borders we shared a common cultural system.

Indian publisher Ritu Menon said what had happened to Mr Naqvi happened in India all the time because the country had 32 languages and people didn’t understand each other’s work unless it was translated. She argued that the ruptures created in the literary domain and performing arts by historical divisions resulted in no trade of printed materials between countries.

Bangladeshi poet Sadaf Saaz said there were commonalities in subcontinental sensibility, but East Pakistan was affected (by political goings-on) in a different way. Just when experimentation with Indian English began, the partition happened. In East Pakistan, the fight was also for their own language, Bangla, which made English peripheral. And after the partition accessibility also became an issue.

In the second half of the day, the launch of the book Kitab-i-Muntashir: Ye Natamam Si Eik Zindagi Jo Guzri hai by Musadiq Sanwal was an extremely well attended affair as the hall where it took place filled up in no time, leaving many of Sanwal’s admirers stranded outside the hall pleading with the volunteers (one of whom was a tad more strict than the situation demanded) to let them in. Moderated by Hasan Zaidi, the launch was participated by journalist Wusutullah Khan and writer Mohammed Hanif. Mr Hanif, on the matter as to why Sanwal was hesitant to publish his poems touched upon earlier by Wusutullah, said he never tried to hide his poems from people but his real interest lay in politics, as a result his poetry was sidelined.

The launch of the book Purani Kahaniyan, Nai Dunia: 32 Tales of the Thrones was conducted by Kiswhar Naheed. Speaking on the occasion Syeda Arifa Zehra said the book told the tale of Raja Bikram and the 32 putliaan which symbolised his conscience.

Writer Masood Asher said the book brought to light celebrated writer Intizar Husain’s ability as a researcher (muhaqqiq).

Indian scholar Arshia Sattar pointed out that old classical Hindu tales were all about kingship and who’s going to be a king.

Intizar Husain read out a story from the book and remarked that the idea that the stories in the book embodied was that no matter how powerful man was, at the end of the day he had to succumb to his fate.

Published in Dawn, February 9th, 2015

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