A scene from the play staged at the book launch.–Photo by White Star

KARACHI: Tales were moulded in poetry and rendered in a theatrical performance at the book launch of The cave, a narrative poem by Emad S. Rahim, at Indus Valley School of Arts and Architecture on Thursday evening.

The works, published by Markings, is the first of the three volumes of the book titled, The worlds.

“The genesis of what eventually became The cave occurred when I was sitting in a coffeehouse nine years ago,” said Mr Rahim while introducing his work. Once inspired, he said, he decided to craft the idea into a long narrative poem, told by a beggar poet. It took him a year-and-a-half to complete the book.

“I wrote The cave not only because of my urge to write, but also because it needed to be written,” he said.

“Tales pass down from one generation to another orally, and mostly in the form of verses, often musically rendered,” he said, adding that he considered rhythm as the most fundamental pillars of poetry.

“The very notion of cultural heritage and, by extension, individual identity, stems from the shared experiences of groups of individuals archived in rhythmic narrative,” he said.

Later, the audience was treated to a delightful theatrical rendition of selected excerpts of the book. Set in a Turkish coffeehouse, the performance related the experiences of the protagonist, enacted by the writer, and the many characters he met each recounting stories close to their heart.

The performance also featured Aamir Qureshi, Joshinder Chuggar and Faraz Lodhi with narrations by Rahat Kazmi and Khalid Ahmed, and directed by Saba Sayeed.