JUST imagine: the month of November is coming to an end, and there’s no sign of winter yet. So whoever says that sweltering conditions in the last quarter of the year is a relatively new phenomenon for Karachiites, putting it down to various scientific reasons, well, 50 years back, the situation was similar. Also, the holy month of Ramazan had begun on Nov 22, 1968. But the weather was acting stubborn. On Nov 23, weather experts talking to this newspaper said it might take (another) week before cold winds made their appearance. There was a slight chill during nighttime but the days were warm and people had to stay away from the sun. Only the very impatient were able to use their woolen clothes in the evening. Getting up before dawn for the sehri had, however, served to remind many of the possible arrival of winter.

Another thing that was eagerly awaited by Karachiites that week was the great Urdu poet Asadullah Khan Ghalib’s centenary celebrations which were lined up for February next year. But preparations had already started to make the event a memorable one. On Nov 20, pencils with Ghalib written on them were issued at a lively literary function when the Idara-i-Yadgar-i-Ghalib passed the hat around, and one person got it for as much as Rs3,000. The function, held in the Adamjee Science College Hall, launched the fundraising campaign for the celebration of Ghalib’s centenary, and in the process became its preface by throwing preliminary light on the poet’s contribution to our culture and poetry. The function, presided over by Faiz Ahmad Faiz, had an air of fraternal gathering about it, which culminated in an unscheduled mushaira. Syed Mohammad Jafri recited a poem especially composed for the occasion, and speeches on Ghalib were made by Prof Karrar Hussain, Umer Muhajir and a visiting teacher of Urdu at the London School of Oriental and African Studies, David Matthews.

Speaking of artists, such as Ghalib, on Nov 20 art lovers in the city were introduced to a rich and impressive sampling of modern art in the West at an exhibition of 43 German paintings that commenced at the Arts Council. Presenting original works of 21 living German painters, it offered a synopsis of contemporary German art. The 43 works, differing considerably in their individual statements, bore testimony to the opinion that art in West Germany was inspired more by international movements and borrowed very little from its own national heritage and characteristics. Some of the painters whose work was included in the exhibition were: Emil Schumacher, Hann Trier, Bruno Goller, Rupprecht Geiger, Konrad Klapheck and Wolf Vostell. A painting which particularly attracted viewers was Vostell’s ‘Kennedy on the Stands’.

Forty-three is a big number, but not bigger than 1.5 million. Well, the latter figure has nothing to do with art; rather, it signifies the number of Karachi’s eligible voters in 1968. On Nov 24, it was announced that 1.5m Karachiites were estimated to have been enrolled as eligible voters for the forthcoming general elections. According to Sajjad Ahmed Jafri, deputy director for Basic Democracies, the ongoing enumeration work would come to an end on Nov 25. He added that about 1,000 enumerators drawn from 12 different departments of the West Pakistan government had nearly completed work in 3,109 electoral units in the Sindh capital. The electoral units had been so delimitated as to have an average population of 940. Karachi had a total population of about three million at the time.

Published in Dawn, November 19th, 2018