KARACHI is notorious for its lack of greenery and spring is barely noticeable in this concrete jungle. So is autumn! Unlike Islamabad, autumn is equally colourless in the city by the sea, not to mention Karachi’s stubbornly persistent civic issues. As if it was not enough, pollution in Karachi is trying its best to match Lahore’s unenviable record of being the world’s most polluted city.

However, some literary magazines have bloomed in Karachi’s semi-arid, barren land lately and it feels like a breath of fresh air. In these days of doom and gloom when print media is struggling and even some newspapers are barely afloat, publishing voluminous literary magazines — and that too with readable contents — is nothing short of a spring.

Karachi, along with Lahore, had been among the most prolific Pakistani cities when it comes to literature. Several prestigious literary magazines once adorned Karachi’s otherwise bleak and commercial atmosphere, though of late the conditions have not been so conducive for literary works, especially for magazines. Despite the odds, some literary magazines have been surviving and Karachi is contributing meaningfully to Pakistan’s literary vistas. For instance, Anjuman Taraqqi-i-Urdu’s Qaumi Zaban, an Urdu monthly, has published a special issue on Mir Taqi Mir to pay tribute to the great bard on his 300th birth anniversary, quite a commendable job, notwithstanding the numerous typos.

Recently Mukalma brought out its annual issue offering a window on the current literary scene. Ijra’s special issue on Asad Muhammad Khan appeared just weeks ago, celebrating the writer’s 91st birthday. And now the latest issue of Collage, a literary Urdu magazine published from Karachi and edited by Iqbal Nazar, has hit the stands. Oops, sorry for the lapse: literary magazines do not hit the bookstands or bookshops anymore. Barring Fazlee Books at Urdu Bazar, which is the only bookshop that puts literary magazines on view, literary journals are usually not sold at bookshops and they are given in person or sent via post, standardly ex gratia.

So one wonders how the editors and publishers of these literary periodicals manage the affairs and how they finance this expensive obsession of theirs. Publishing literary magazines in Pakistan is now not a commercially viable enterprise and it is simply an artistic and sophisticated way of throwing one’s own money at a wild passion that hardly gets noticed, if ever.

But, at the same time, these literary periodicals offer a glimmer hope that all is not lost. The latest issue of Collage, quite a copious one, is a testimony to the belief that Urdu literature is alive and well — and kicking. The 720-page issue proffers some absorbing reads. For instance, Mustansar Husain Tarar’s article on Sadeqain, written in Tarar’s usual flowing and interesting style, vividly captures the legendary artist’s stay at Lahore for about two years when he was painting a mural on the ceiling of a hall at Lahore Museum. The article narrates how Tarar was able to get some sketches and a painting for the title of his book Nikle Teri Talash Mein. With sketches and title drawn by Sadeqian, the book has completed its 50 years of being in print and yet another edition of the book, named Sadeqain Edition, has been published, informs Tarar. The article opens up some new aspects of the world famous artist’s personality and psyche.

The editor and his aides have been able to get some fine pieces from some other prominent authors as well, for example, Sahar Ansari, Saleem Kausar, Anwer Sha’oor, Shaheen Mufti, Tahira Iqbal, Saba Ikram, Irfan Javed, Najeeba Arif, Mubeen Mirza , Iftikhar Shaf’i, Sa’ud Usmani, Anwaar Ahmed, Muhammad Hafeez Khan, Fatema Hasan, Iqbal Nazar, Nazar Amrohvi, Khalid Moeen and many more. Different sections in the magazine, such as articles, ghazals, poems, short stories, music, travelogue, drama, autobiography and reviews, prove the vitality of our writers and the vibrancy of our literature.

Section on translations has a translated reportage form Sindhi by Sheikh Ayaz. Sheikh Ayaz is a big name in Sindhi literature and parts of this reportage record some events, with a specific perspective, of Pakistan’s political and social scene in 1980s and 1990s. It is translated into Urdu by Karan Singh. One wishes that Sheikh Ayaz’s thoughts and sentiments that he recorded during the last years of his life also be presented in Urdu so readers would be able to see the total metamorphosis that the great Sindhi intellectual went through during the final stage of his life. Keeping in view the sea change that he embraced, it is must to present the full and true picture, as without it the picture would remain incomplete and would distort the image of the person that was an icon of modern Sindhi literature.

drraufparekh@yahoo.com

Published in Dawn, November 27th, 2023