ISLAMABAD, Jan 23: Columnist Asif Noorani, co-author with the noted Indian opinion writer, Kuldip Nayar, introduced the book, Tales of Two Cities, at a small but appreciative gathering here at the Oxford University Press.

It was a typical English book launch with no long speeches. Asif Noorani liked to describe the event as a signature ceremony. Yet, he enjoyed the spotlight Friday evening as he spoke to the book loving public. He signed each sold copy, recalling his childhood days, as well as his later salad days at Karachi where he reached in 1947 on a boat from Bombay (now Mumbai).

In contrast, the noted columnist Kuldip Nayar migrated from Lahore and on the way he saw tragic scenes and mayhem and murders committed by frenzied hordes of Hindus and Muslims, killing those with whom until August 1947 they had lived as good neighbours. Echoing Charles Dickens’s immortal phrase “the best of times and the worst of times”, the opening sentence of A Tale of Two Cities, Nayar and Noorani say, in the introductory chapter, “the words might apply equally to events in the sub-continent in 1947 to the division of Britain’s Indian Empire as well as the accompanying disturbances brought great hope for the future but it was also undoubtedly the worst of times and season of darkness as hundreds of thousands of people were killed in communal disturbances.”

When asked for her reaction a lady teacher, present at the signature ceremony answered, she had read the book and also had recommended it to her students, and all of them had enjoyed reading it. There is no message or moralising in the book and it appeals to all groups. Bahut Umda kitab hai, she added.

Sarwar Naqvi, a former ambassador to the USA was present to purchase the book. He said the book was about partition which continues to impact on our lives even after 61 years. He added that partition of India brought about “such a radical transformation of society that it has left a scar on our collective consciousness. We are still trying to deal with it and the book is a collaborative effort and exercise to help the process of negotiating and understanding the event.”

A participant remarked that the two authors who are famous journalists have written with authority and clarity about their ancestral homes as well as the city of their adoption. “It is a book about partition.”

Speaking on the occasion, Noorani narrated a conversation he had with a friend Subash. He was then only five years of age, and was still unaware of the religious divide. So, he innocently asked Subash if he was a Shia or Sunni. Subash did not understand. He replied that he would ask his father. He asked the same question from a young thing of his age. The girl innocently replied that she felt sorry because Noorani being a Sunni she could not marry him. The girl was equally unaware of the distinction because in the early years of Pakistan no one had the inclination for hair splitting on sectarian matters.

“The book is about divergent experiences and converging views of two writers who had set about on travels to each other’s country. Thus it is set in Lahore, the birth place of Kuldip Nayar as well as Mumbai, the favourite city of Noorani because he was born there, Noorani said.

Tales of Two Cities has been published by Raoul Publishers, New Delhi and it is also available at Oxford University Press outlets. The official launch of the book would be held some time next month, Asif Noorani told Dawn.