LAHORE: A novel, titled The Inside City, by Anita Mir was launched at the Research and Publication Centre, Gulberg, on Thursday with a good number of literati attending the launch.

The Inside City encompasses a story beginning right after World War I and ends in the 1960s. It explores layers of social fabric that prevailed at the time of the Partition. It has a lot to offer, the customs, values, traditions, scenes of the Partition, hopes and disappointments. The good thing about the novel is that it only restricts itself to the Partition and happenings taking place in those times.

The novel was launched by The Aleph Review, Pakistan’s foremost literary publication, in collaboration with the Taufiq Rafat Foundation, founded in memory of the late poet Taufiq Rafat (1927-1998).

Anita Mir, the author of the novel, was born in Lahore and shifted to England when she was four. She also worked in Pakistan with a leading newspaper as a journalist.

The launch, moderated by poet Mehvash Amin, started with the screening of a short film based on the novel. It featured old houses in Lahore, historical monuments, migration scenes and historical treasures.

While throwing light on characters and plot of her novel, Anita Mir said she always had great fascination of the Walled City of Lahore. She loved old buildings, architecture and was fascinated by its history. She said it took her long to write the novel and it was also difficult for her to translate certain dialogues of Urdu and Punjabi into English but she had tried to get closer to the expression and meanings of such dialogues.

Ms Mir termed her work as a period novel, which also mentioned the times when the Indian Muslims joined the Khilafat Movement. The romance of 12 gates of the Walled City was also discussed while 13th gate had also a mention. The author said most of the ancient civilisations had walls around their places or cities so was the case with Lahore.

At the end, journalist Rashed Rehman, the moving spirit behind Research and Publication Centre, thanked the audience, saying the centre was not only a meeting place but also a great opportunity for discussions and debate. He held Anita Mir in high esteem and termed her book a valuable addition to the cultural vibrancy of Lahore.

Anita Mir read excerpts from her novel.

Published in Dawn, June 28th, 2019