City Culture – 4th Karachi Literature Festival

I don’t understand a word he is saying.

It’s French. Oh. Probably not. Because I can speak French.

I turned back and had a good luck at the backbenchers. They were university students, perhaps given the assignment to attend Literature festival sessions and the session in progress was with Mustansar Hussain Tarrar. The organizer just had difficult time pronouncing his name which broke the audience into a laughter.

“It’s the oldest running joke in the country. Nothing to worry about really”, Muhammad Hanif helped the organizer get away.

As the session progressed, the clueless students and well read enthusiasts both, delved deep into masterful Mustansar’s narration of his most recent work. Such opportunity is this Festival that it helps you discover new avenues and in a way – yourself.

The First Thought about the opening ceremony. How come this place is full of people on a working day. The Second Thought. It is very impressive; Screen at the back. Better positioning of the stage. Mangroves making an exquisite backdrop. The subsequent thoughts were irrelevant.

The festival has moved to Beach Luxury Hotel. The place is much more accessible than Carlton Hotel. However it does make traffic an annoying factor. Not sure how both places compare as far as the overall space is concerned but some of Beach Luxury halls are only bigger rooms at the best. But Beach Luxury has a character and provides a cultured environment which Carlton failed to produce. Also nearby places like Boat Club and Port Grand offer a welcome getaway for distinguished guests.

Eloquent Nadeem Aslam and Intizar Hussain set the expectations high and raised the bar for follow up sessions. Most of them lived to the hype though moderators need to step up.

Try to pool in. Car parking could be a problem despite Valet Parking. Bring the family along as organizers have worked hard to set up an alternate festival for children also.