KARACHI: The literary and art circles of Karachi woke up on Wednesday morning to the sad news of Akhtar Ispahani’s passing.

An octogenarian, in her early eighties, Akhtar Aunty, as she was lovingly called by all who knew her, had been unwell for the past three weeks. On Wednesday morning she passed away peacefully in her sleep.

She had been living alone at home under the care of nurses since her all four children (three daughters and a son) were abroad and unable to travel to be with her in these times of coronavirus crisis.

Her maternal niece, Ruby Haider, said that she was not just an aunt for her, she was also her best friend. “One could talk to her about anything creative. The world is poorer by her leaving but I feel I am richer because of the time I got to spend with her,” she told Dawn.

“Akhtar Aunty was an institution. She had a good eye and was very much into art. She had wonderful canvases on her walls. She was deeply conscious in the aesthetics of life which pushed her towards art and the written word,” she said, adding that her passion for causes even saw her taking part in rallies.

“She was fiercely loyal to her friends who admired her for it as well as her style in everything that she did. When she walked with the help of a cane, she did that with style, when she needed a wheelchair, she did even that with style,” the niece remembered.

“Sadly due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdown, we couldn’t get to meet as often as we used to. Otherwise, I had her for lunch at my place every Sunday, while her Wednesdays were dedicated to the Raza family, as she was also their aunt.

Nasreen Moini, eldest daughter of Syed Hashim Raza, a well-known leading bureaucrat and the former governor of East Pakistan, said that Akhtar was her youngest maternal aunt. “I was lucky to have five aunts and one uncle, Mehdi Masud, who has also passed away. My mother, Salma was the eldest in the five sisters and Akhtar Aunty was the youngest. Now after her passing away, I only have one surviving aunt, Tehseen Hasan,” she said, adding that they were very close because there was a difference of only one or two years between the aunt and herself, the niece.

“With such a small difference in our ages, we grew up together. She was very dynamic. She loved sports, especially cricket. She was an intellectual. She wrote beautifully, too. She was larger than life,” she said. “I remember she also used to help people out in every way because she was so well-connected,” she said, adding that it was a pity that she was so lonely towards the end. “All her children, Mahnaz, Laleh, Farahnaz, her daughters are in America and her son Iraj is in the UK. She was a great mother to them, and a great aunt to us all,” she said.

Sairah Irshad, her colleague from the original Newsline team of which she was also a part, and who happens to be related to her as well also praised her for her knowledge about everything under the sun.

“She was unwell in the end, as she was also a cancer survivor and had heart issues too, yet she kept herself abreast of what was going on around her and in the world while also remaining quite active. She was also young at heart and her friends included people of all ages. She had many well-wishers who respected her a lot, especially for her opinions,” she said.

One of the well-wishers included senior journalist and editor of The News Talat Aslam, who said that she was his mother’s friend in East Pakistan. He also said that former husband Isky Ispahani happened to be a colleague of his father’s and the families met often. “As children, Farahnaz, who is now married to Hussain Haqqani, and her sister, Mahnaz, used to play together,” he remembered. “After her divorce, she moved to Karachi and also worked on the international page of The News,” he said, adding that earlier, she had also been associated with some literary magazines and journals brought out by Agha Hasan Abidi of the BCCI.

Well-known art critic Niilofur Farrukh also posted on Facebook after learning of her demise: “Akhtar Apa was someone who loved life and lived it on her terms. I will always remember our never-ending conversations over coffee at Chawkandi Art Gallery on art, politics and everything else under the sun. Art was one of her passions and we met often at show openings. In the last few years, her failing health kept her away but she still managed to make it to a few.”

Akhtar Ispahani’s namaz-i-janaza was held at Asr at Imambargah Yasrab in DHA Phase IV, and she was laid to rest at a new graveyard in DHA Phase VII.

Published in Dawn, June 11th, 2020