KARACHI, May 28: A literary sitting, chaired by Dr Hanif Fauq, was held at Goethe Institut on Friday. A poem by German poet Karl Krolow (1915-1999) titled ‘Fear’ was presented by Shamim Manzer. The original text in German language was also read out. Opinions were expressed by the audience in English and Urdu both.

The other item of the evening was a short story by Akhlaq Ahmad. It spoke about the recent past when Karachi was turned into a killing field.

‘Kahani ek raat ki’ introduce a man and a woman, who are unknown to each other, sitting outside a mortuary, both waiting for the night to pass and then carry the dead bodies of their dear departed sons to their destinations. A common feeling of pain and grief had brought them together each one describing how his and her sons were killed by the terrorists and the other by the unknown killers employed by the state itself. The story for its truthful narration was liked by everyone.

Among those who spoke about the story included Noor Mohammad Sheikh, Yaawer Aman, A. Khayyam, Sadiq Modhosh, Nasim Anjum and Muslim Shamim. “They both were waiting for the night to pass”, as quoted at the end of the story, expressed their faith in the dawn of hope, pointed out by Saba Ikram.

Dr Hanif Fauq said that the story was written in perfect narrative form and impressed the audience. The poem by Karl Krolow “Angst” (Fear) skilfully described the fear through the prism of European modernism — a sharp departure from familiar poetic. Krolow (1915-1999) continued his prolific career of over half a century through many phases. The poem ‘Fear’ stimulated the life and human relationship and reflected the poet’s rich historical experience.—HA