For decades, Qaim Naqvi spent his evenings in the Pak Tea House. From his office in the information ministry, he would dash for the bar that he called his second home.
“My first home provided me with a place to sleep while the second home would feed me with reading, writing, and discourse to keep me alive,” recalls the greyhead poet, who was elected as secretary of Halqa Arbab-i-Zauq in the 80s. Qaim Naqvi would go home at midnight to sleep and then awake in the morning to get ready for the work.
Everything seemed smooth until 2000 when his second home’s owner Zahid Hussain closed it down to converted it into a tyre shop. This left Naqvi and scores of other intellectuals and writers devastated, to whom the dimly lit eatery had provided evenings full of inspiration and an environment to escape from the worldly realities.
Once he recovered from the shock, Qaim Naqvi started spending his evenings in an apartment in Shadman, the publishing office of Ali Javed Naqvi. Soon, a vibrant literary cachet was developed. In 2013, when the government interfered and renovated the Pak Tea House, its artistic and intellectual clientele welcomed the decision. The historic tea house is still the favourite haunt of the writers, who spend hours discussing everything under the sun.
Qaim Naqvi, however, did not return to the place he called his second home. “Now, this Shadman flat is my second home,” he says.
Like Naqvi, several other artists and intellectuals have found and developed their favourite haunts during the closure of the Pak Tea House.
“When we stay in one place for a certain period of time, it’s natural to develop an affinity with the place,” explains broadcaster and poet Tasawwar Shahzad who regularly sits at the Adabi Baithak at Alhamra, The Mall. This baithak is frequented by several artists, poets, and writers.
“The baithak provides me with a complete package,” he explains why Adabi Baithak is the best choice for him.
“I can visit art exhibitions here, attend a music class, watch a quality stage show, interact with singers, actors, and friends and take a good cup of tea at an affordable rate,” he smiles.
Shahzad says such hangouts are like oxygen for writers.