KARACHI: The diverse and cultural spirit of the city came to life at the historic Khaliqdina Hall and Library for the day-long Reading Room Festival, organised by the Numaish-Karachi, an interdisciplinary collective dedicated to opening public spaces for cultural events, on Sunday.

Pushing the boundaries of how public space, heritage, literature, creative education and community intersect, the festival had something new and extraordinary for everyone. Serving the best of Karachi’s culinary heritage, there were food stalls featuring the best street food, from bunkababs, chaat, chai, momos barbecue and baked delights in the garden.

Inside the library, where some of the books on the shelves predate Pakistan itself, visitors could take part in artisanal workshops highlighting traditional crafts. Each table there offered some kind of interesting craft from creating your own chamak patti for truck art to learning how to cross-stitch. Meanwhile, inside the grand hall there was theatre, spirited discussions and soulful qawwali.

The Grips Theatre play Unfit Ball Hai Dunya Mere Agay had beloved actors Faiza Kazi, Maria Shaikh, Sajeeruddin and Khaled Anam wake up their young and grownup audience to environmental destruction due to our own carelessness. The differences between village life and city life, between breathing fresh air and polluted air, between peace and noise pollution, and between drinking pure water and polluted water were laid bare for all. Though much has been destroyed, it was pointed out that it is still not too late to plant more trees. It is the only way to reverse the damage.

Theatre, spirited discussions, soulful qawwali and Karachi’s traditional food — all under one roof

Earlier, while sharing some history about Grips Theatre, artist and writer Durriya Kazi said it was started in Berlin, Germany in 1969.

“It’s a theatre where older people play children’s roles to enlighten audiences about important issues,” she said. “In Pakistan, they have been performing with local actors, highlighting local issues, since 1984.”

The segment ‘Fishing the Narrative’ with famous chef Asad Monga in conversation with senior fisherman and secretary general of the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum, writer and author Talib Kachchi and freediver and spear fisherman Akif Raj turned out to be an enlightening talk where Talib Kachchi shared his experience of having witnessed clean and clear waters around Karachi.

Kachchi said that there was a time when fisherfolk boys used to have a competition of diving in the waters to catch a silver coin that had been dropped in. “The coin would be visible even after sinking deep into the water. But now even a human who might fall in that water cannot be recovered easily,” he said.

He also pointed out how the dams and canals to divert and store Indus River water has resulted in the inflow of the sea, hence making so much fertile land turn into arid zones. “It is nature’s way for streams to flow down the mountains into rivers and for the river water to flow into the sea. You are not to mess with it,” he said.

Akif Raj said that of the 50 best table fish in the world, Pakistan happens to have 38 in its waters. “We are a coastal city but we don’t eat like one,” he said. Explaining the difference between a freediver and a scuba diver, Raj said that scuba divers dive with oxygen tanks whereas he dives without any such equipment. “That’s also increased my lung capacity to double of the normal human lung capacity,” he said.

He also shared how bad fishing practices and polluting the ocean with untreated waste is harming marine life. While narrating an incident where he found a dolphin calf trapped in illegal fishing mesh. He said that he took out his knife to free it when its mother came towards him thinking that he was going to hurt her young. But he managed to release it while staying safe. “Now I can call a school of dolphins on a single call. They are all my friends,” he smiled.

The segment ended with Raj carving a mackerel into fillets and the moderator creating his magic by seasoning and garnishing it to make Karachi-style ceviche marinated in lemon and orange juice.

Next, the founder and director of Numaish-Karachi, Saima Zaidi, was seen in conversation with municipal commissioner S.M. Afzal Zaidi, writer, researcher and curator Nusrat Khawaja and filmmaker, writer, director and actor Meher Jaffri.

Afzal Zaidi said that he has grown up in Karachi and is also an animal lover. “I can easily blame the KMC for the lack of capacity of managing public spaces but it is also true that as citizens we also lack the participatory spirit. I’m sure that 90 per cent of you all here have not voted in municipal elections,” he said.

On Nusrat Khawaja’s speaking about revitalisation of public spaces requiring the common vision of stakeholders and the state of the zoo and the keeping of animals in captivity, Afzal Zaidi reminded that the brown bear Rano was not bought by the zoo. Neither was the chimpanzee that died recently. “They were bought by some rich kid who then gave them to the zoo where he got bored of them,” he reminded.

Meanwhile, Meher Jaffri while speaking about theatre said that it is strange that screenwriting is not offered in theatre studies. “But everything else in theatre is secondary to screenwriting,” she said.

An interesting day turned into an entertaining evening, which concluded with dastangoi [dramatic storytelling] of Tilism-i-Hoshruba and qawwali sessions.

Published in Dawn, December 1st, 2025