By :Annam Lodhi
“Without literature, life is hell.” ― Charles Bukowski
Lahore, the cultural capital of Pakistan, is well known for its art, literature, theatre and music. A city with history filled with a plethora of brilliant writers including the great Allama Iqbal himself. It had for a while though, been for something to quench its love for knowledge and literature. On the 23rd and 24th of February, the wish was fruitfully fulfilled.
The
Lahore Literary Festival took place at the “Al-Hamra Arts Council” situated on
the Mall road. The heavy rain didn’t stop the lovers of literature from showing
up on the first day of the event. There was a pleasant diversity
among each session that was held. However the truly inspiring part was the
presence and the interest partaken by the youth.
'When
the revolution comes they will take your Birkins and turn them into a herd of
cows ' - Tariq Ali.
The inaugurating session was conducted at 9:30
am by Tariq Ali on “Politics & culture: past & present”. The area was
already swarming with literature hungry individuals and groups. Tariq Ali, a
graduate from the Oxford University UK, is the writer of the Famous “Lion &
leopard” and has numerous BBC documentaries to his credit. He answered a lot
of queries and left the audience even hungrier for the forthcoming
sessions.
The
only highly disheartening part about the whole event was not being able to
attend each session as each time slot was reserved for three separate sessions.
The crowd was energetic at all times and not once did the numbers seem to
decrease. It seemed as if only more people kept coming in till the very end,
making it hard to find places to rest.
I
desperately wanted to attend “The holy warrior & the enemy (1958-2008):
film, news media and music in frontline Pakistan” but it was packed up. Instead,
I attended “Chinaman: the legend of Pradeep Mathew” with a heavy heart. To my
surprise however, the moment the author and speaker, Shehan Karunatitaka,
started talking I was left mesmerised. He spoke of his love for cricket and his
endless quarrels with his wife due to his addiction and convinced me which book
I must read next.
As
the sessions changed we got time to interact with others in the same quest of
knowledge. Age didn’t matter and each person had a wealth of information to
share with each other. The day was followed by sessions like “Globalization of
Pakistan’s literature”, “Pakistan, A modern country?” and “Polemics of time
& space 1”. There were the ones I personally attended; you may find the
complete list on their website, along with other information.
They
described the courtesans who they are different from prostitutes, their journeys,
lifestyle and purposes. They also discussed courtesan romanticism, weaknesses and strengths along with the eastern appeal
of the character as many directors and writers have made them their subject. It
intrigued me
to such extent that my imagination took the best of me and I floated the
poetry, the prose and their feelings the way one wrote it out. It was truly
heartfelt, helping one fall in love with words, making one think that arranging
words in a poetic manner can make comprehension of feelings so touching.
Intizar:
“women poets are leading the revival of Urdu
poetry...resistance poetry is led by them now.”
The
day came to an end with a great “Mushaira” followed by “Kahtak” that left the
audience applauding with joy only to return with the same zeal the next day.
The
24th of February was a bright sunny day that further lifted the
spirits for the festival. The day started with “future of Urdu literature in
the Punjab”, “commonwealth, nationalism, Globalism: storytelling in the 21st
century” then came Manto by Ayesha jalal (his grandchild), she talked about her
how Manto wrote about his experiences & nature, he witnessed the partition
& was an honoured author pre-partition. She said: “I really think Manto has
not been translated adequately yet.” She
wrote Manto’s Translation in English & is herself a novelist.
Next
“how to get filthy rich in Asia” a book by Mohsin Hamid, the books appeal is
that it has no names, that just widens the scope of the reader. His “reluctant
fundamentalist” is being filmed & will be out in a couple of months. He
stated: “there are yellow balloons outside, I wish there were yellow kites
instead” this made the audience roar with applause & sigh deeply.
“Beyond
veil” by Tehmina Durrani was yet another pleasure to attend, & the queues
for this one did break the record! Beyond veil is Tamina's journey through the
various phases of her life.
Tehmina expressed that “I
couldn’t have written My Feudal Lord but it was because of the injustice, my
reality was different to what I was supposed to be.” She explained that it was
painful to bear the consequences of the book when even my own parents disowned me for thirty years. Talking about the changing times said that “I find new generation very open to my book today which is a sign of acceptability”.
painful to bear the consequences of the book when even my own parents disowned me for thirty years. Talking about the changing times said that “I find new generation very open to my book today which is a sign of acceptability”.
She also shared “Happy thing
in Sorrow time’s” idea, which is through the mind of a young child &
invited everyone to her next exhibition titled “Love Affair”
“I find the new generation
very open to ‘My Feudal Lord’. I can see change in the form of acceptance compared
to the past when even my parents disowned me for 30 years.-Tahmina Durani
The
Conversation with “Bapsi Sidhwa” was indeed the highlight of the Festival, an
honour for all who attended it. To listen to her talk so freely & openly
about her feelings, encouraging the youth & giving out all the positive
points of Pakistan today was heartening. She read form the book Crow Eater
(Jungle wala Shaib), talked about the Ice Candy man (a book based on Lahore).
She shared her life journey, love for writing & how she wrote her first
novel as a newly wedded bride.
The
festival wrapped up with riveting performance by The Laal Band & Qiyass,
everyone danced out all their stress & the emotions bottled up within them,
they did leave with regret as a great weekend came to an abrupt end, but with
hope for the next one to be a greater one.
Pakistan
today in this situation showed that it has a great weapon, as Sir Francis Bacon
said “Knowledge is Power”, such portrayals of power is very much needed today,
by the youth by our nation.**Quotes taken from Dawn**
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