The Karachi Walla

Anjuman Taraqqi-i-Urdu has a nostalgic sound to it yet it is very relevant to the times that we live in. Founded in 1903, it remains one of the oldest institutions working for the promotion of Urdu language. It actually started as a movement. For years Hindus has been making a case for adoption of Hindi […]

In Karachi we have a library named after Ghalib. It was founded by another great poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz along with a great scholar, Mirza Zafar ul Hasan. The idea was cultivated sometime in 1968, the year the world celebrated Ghalib’s centennial. Both gentlemen founded Idara-e-Yadgar-e-Ghalib (IYG) which paved the way for a library and […]

Another day. Another heartbreak. Libraries in Karachi break your heart. Taimuria Library is not supposed to since it is quite well maintained. But it does. It does despite it being well managed and well frequented because it lacks the purpose and exuberance that you would attach with such places of learning. Or is it the […]

Sehba Akhtar Library is one of several well planned libraries honoring important literary figures. But that is past. It is in dismal condition now, just like other municipal libraries in Nazimabad, in Karachi. Present day Sehba Akhtar Library has a utility store running on its premises. It fares no better. Both library and utility store […]

Nazimabad is a very well planned neighborhood. Let me put a necessary disclaimer here that my orientation of Nazimabad is very basic but I continue to find libraries with ease in this big neighborhood. I reach Al-Huda Library around noon on a working day. My earlier visits to libraries in Karachi in general and Nazimabad […]