The session titled “Old Urdu journals: A disappearing heritage, Urdu Akhbar Aur Rasail, Ek Ghum Hota Virsa” was an illustrated talk by scholar Choudhri Mohammad Naim. He read history of press from papers. He said the introduction of Litho press in 1850 was a major development.

In Lahore the first Urdu press was Koh-i-Noor that published a six-page paper with the same name, appear on Mondays. It started the publication in 1849 which ceased to exist in 1904.

Naim said newspapers appeared in those cities where the East India Company held its sway. By 1857, as many as 184 papers were being published in sub-continent.

He spoke of periodicals Tehzeeb-i-Niswan and Darya-i-Noor. He lamented that old journals were not preserved. About Tehzeeb-i-Niswan which appeared in 1898, Naim said its complete file was found in 1901 at Aligarh.

The seemingly serious session, off and on, provided comic relief to the thin audience. In one of the instances, when Naim spoke of periodicals ‘The Sharif Bibi’, Kishwar Naheed quipped “Is it Shareer Bibi or Sharif Bibi.”

Naim’s slides showed the audience how far the art of advertisement had come — or not — over the time. Such as an advertisement selling “hair oil for women” that was published in Tehzeeb-i-Niswan.

The audience enjoyed a serious discussion among women readers on the benefits of the oil that ensued after publication of the ad.

Another slide displaying ad “Aalah Sabz Chai” (green tea) carried an eulogy by poet-philosopher Allama Iqbal.

C.M. Naim told a questioner that he had been researching on Urdu journals for the last 10 years. He said Punjab Public Library had a rich collection of old journals.

TV actor, scholar, researcher, Naeem Tahir, who was sitting in the audience, offered his collection of old periodicals to C.M. Naim.

Overall, the event provided an opportunity to those interested in research on old journals.

Festival buffs perhaps underestimated the session.

Published in Dawn, February 21st, 2016