Ali Akbar Natiq wants to be known as a poet first and foremost, is how moderator Arsalan Rathore introduced the author and poet in a session, titled ‘Safeer-i-Laila’ -- after his book of collected poems, on the last day of Lahore Literary Festival at Alhamra on Sunday.

Mr Natiq remarked that poets have been there since the world was created, sharing that a poet can write aghazal, but everyghazalwriter can’t be a poet. He called himself a storyteller while writing poetry.

“A poet is someone who loiters aimlessly (awara gard); he talks to the trees, stars and what not. Everything in the world was created beautiful, it is us who have distorted them,” he reflected.

The poet then talks about the use of istaara (metaphor), saying mushahida (observation) is the most important element in poetry. “Things change as we move from one location to another. So if you keep writing as you go along in life, it’ll appear fresh and attract many more readers. Poetry should make people happy; it should give them confidence about life.”

Natiq then read out some versesfrom the book under discussion.

When asked about a lot of focus on nature in his poetry, Natiq gave an example that no hotel anywhere in the world could beat lying on a charpoy under ajaamantree by a waterway with a book for company. “Nature provides a person a shadow; humans are bound for life with trees and poetry is all about love and care, which nature provides in abundance.”

The moderator asked him about his philosophy of life in terms of him having a strong voice against injustices. “If justice (adal) ends from the world, life will come to an end. The objective of poetry is to speak the truth, and if you don’t then you justify the injustice. There is no compromise on it. People make friends, but I’m known for making enemies because of opinions. History will only remember those who stand on the right side.”

Mr Natiq concluded by revealing he was working on his autobiography that will be “honest and interesting”.

Video games

Video game connoisseurs gathered to listen to art historian and ethnologist Jean-Baptiste Clais talk about his passion for the games, contemporary pop culture that he specialises in, how he put together an exhibition about video games and their connection with culture, cinema, and art.

At the start of the session, ‘Video Games as a New Domain of Creation’, moderated by digital storyteller/journalist Mariam Saeed Khan at Lahore Literary Festival, Mr Clais gave a presentation on the market shares of different video game systems, the evolution of graphics of video games and glimpses into the first video games exhibition.

Talking about the exhibition, he said since the game had to be visualised, simple colours had to be used to get public attention. “Games are inspired by the real world, includingmovies, cartoons and television, while video games also exert their influence on these media.”

When Ms Khan asked what his favourite video game was, he said there were none since as a child he wasn’t allowed to play them. “I bought a computer when I became an adult and started playing then only.”

The objective of a non-profit he volunteers for, he shared, is to maintain digital heritage, organise shows and exhibitions and display gaming machines to explain to people, especially parents, how they work.“There’s so much beauty and poetry and art out there and wonderful games.Video gaming can be shaped in so many contexts. You have to find an angle that makes it interesting. Museums are there for the community that thinks games are a part of them and their lives; they’ll cease to exist once people stop playing games.”

Published in Dawn, March 21st, 2022