AS far as Urdu is concerned, it was a case of being seventh time lucky. At the previous six editions of KLF it had to make do with the confines of four walls; only English could flourish in the open air. Having done all the hard work in terms of proving its ability to attract the masses, Urdu finally got its due when it was allowed to spread its fragrance in the main garden of the venue.

This was surely one of the standout features of the seventh KLF in ways more than one, and the mere symbolism of it was not lost on those who were there. The honour rightly went to Zehra Nigah for being the first Urdu writer to have an hour-long session there, followed almost immediately by Mustansar Hussain Tarar. The two back-to-back sessions were way more engaging than many that have been held in that hallowed garden.

The running thread across the multitude of sessions over the three days of the festival, however, was provided by Intizar Husain. The man earlier used to hog the limelight with his presence. This time he did so with his absence. The master storyteller that he was, Intizar picked his spot well for the curtain call. He and his work were mentioned in almost every session that featured the likes of Nigah, Kishwar Naheed, Masood Ashar and Tarar. And, indeed, there was an exclusive session on Husain — in the main garden of course.

But Intizar was not the only Husain remembered at the KLF; Abdullah Hussein also featured prominently in discussions and the session on him was much more lively as Tarar, his long-time friend, Irfan Javed, a young fiction writer, and publisher Afzaal Ahmed joined hands with others to weave a wonderful tale that brought out the essence of the man and his creative output as effectively as was possible in an hour.

Moderator Asif Farrukhi, as is his wont, did the job remarkably well which has continued to make people wonder how lively other sessions could be with moderators who believed in doing their basic homework. There have been sessions in the history of KLF that were decimated by the moderators even in the presence of a glittering guest list. The seventh edition was no different on this count. This year, the session on Urdu digests and digest writers was one massive example of how frighteningly wrong things can go when a moderator tries to deliver a walk-in performance.

Moving on, the man who stole the show more than once at the event this year was Asghar Nadeem Syed. He adjusted his approach with intriguing ease when he moderated a session only to adjust back into his more usual role as a guest speaker. In each capacity he did more than a few sessions owing to his multidimensional ability to talk about fiction, poetry, drama, newspaper columns and personalities.

Among the relative newcomers, Harris Khalique and Wusatullah Khan continued to make waves — as they have been doing for a few years now — with their fleeting but meaningful appearances. Getting his name added to the list was Saif Mahmood who came from across the border and immediately engaged the audience with his thoughts and words. He made a big impression early on with his chat with Nigah, chipping in with just the right comment at just the right time and with due reverence and understanding reflective of his background knowledge.

In another session that discussed Urdu in India and Pakistan, Mahmood started off with a comment that may well be ignored for being from an Indian Muslim under pressure in Pakistan at an event that was hit by visa controversy just days before it got under way. He talked of how the language was flourishing in India and how wrong it was to think that Urdu was considered the lan-guage of the Muslims. Bari Mian, the moderator, added to the argument without realising that his words, though correct, represented an academic viewpoint that had nothing to do with the ground reality.

It was Arfa Sayeda Zehra who brought the session to life by giving it a high-potency, short-acting shot of reality. Suddenly the tone of the session took a U-turn and soon enough Mahmood started calling a spade a spade, and talking about the “undue Sanskiritisation of Hindi”. The moderator, pleasant in tone and tenor, just about agreed with everything anyone said during the session. Had it not been for Arfa, the session would have been boring and meaningless. She not only gave it energy, but a lot of meaning and depth as well. That she did so with complete awareness of a live audience came as a bonus, but not as a surprise.