LLF 2015 satiates literary buffs

The third day of the Lahore Literary Festival (LLF) 2015 was a start-studded day with some of the giants of Pakistan’s literary circle discussing issues important and pertinent to life in Pakistan.

The session “Ismat Chughtai, Defining and Era in Leftwing Urdu Literature” was paneled by Ameena Saiyid, IA Rehman and was moderated by Ali Madeeh Hashmi. The discussion ranged from the topics that Chughtai chose to her stance as a defining feminist artist in the subcontinent. Rehman opined that Chughtai was a feminist before the modern face of feminism even existed and she was the defining influence on the modern feminist movement.

Saiyid said that while Chughtai was influenced by Rashid Jahan, she was herself a person of such influence that we can see her views even in the modern feminist narrative. The panelists said that Chugtai was one of those that practiced what they preached and that she was the embodiment of an independent women.

Rehman regaled the audience with an incident where Chughtai suggested that just as Indian women are asked to break their bangles when their husband dies, a husband should break his watch should his wife pass away. The anecdote made the audience break out in applause and laughter.

The session “Footnotes from the Frontline” was paneled by Asma Jahangir, Joe Sacco, Romesh Gunesekara and Yasmine El Rashidi and was moderated by Basharat Peer. The panel tackled the issues of frontline journalism and the role of fiction in bridging the gaps where journalism fails and the fact finding missions cannot complete the story.

Romesh Gunesekara talked about how his journey as a writer started by writing about anything he could find beyond his doorstep and how it evolved into storytelling eventually leading him to tell the stories of the Sri Lankan Civil War that raged on for decades. He emphasises the importance of preserving the memories of wars and other atrocities so that the future generations know what happened before them and that it doesn’t disappear from memory.

Joe Sacco Shared his experiences as a journalist, as a comic book artist and then his foray into Comic Book Journalism. He talked about how being a journalist gives you a sort of unprecedented access to people and he can basically ask them anything but he also mentioned how that can still lead to conflicting reports of the same event and that as a journalist that is very hard to reconcile as you have to stay objective and true to reality. He emphasised how fiction can actually help him reconcile several different accounts of stories into a coherent narrative that you can present to people.

Aasma Jahangir said that fiction complements journalism and both can be an important force that can help change the future. She shared her experiences from Afghanistan talking about the devastation there that was not only physical but also cultural to the point that people’s entire cultural identities had been destroyed. She also talked about how you can have a warlord on the negotiation table after a conflict yet you cannot have a woman there when women are the ones most affected conflicts like Afghanistan and Congo.

Yasmin shared her experiences while reporting front line from Egypt during the revolution. She talked about how the Tahrir Square protest just developed in an emergent manner and she shared how she knew then that she was a witness to a major event and not just a journalist and felt it her responsibility to report the facts on the ground as truthfully as possible.

The book discussion regarding Abdullah Hussain’s writings was a jam packed event, where more people were waiting to get in outside the hall than there were inside the hall. Abdullah Hussain was on the panel and the moderator was Dr Asif Furrukhi. The lighthearted discussion about the grave topics discussed in Hussain’s bibliography was well enjoyed by the audience. The discussion ranged from his short story “Nadi” to his epic novel “Udaas Naslein”. The discussion also touched on His books “Bagh” and “Nadar Log” and the collection of short stories “Nasheb”.

Hussain was in a cheerful mood throughout, sharing his memories of the novels and explaining how extreme boredom when he was working at Daudkhel actually led to him start writing his novel. He talked about his research into the First World War, which was a major plot point in his Novel “Udaas Naslein”. He talked about how his books share a common thread of “justice” and that his characters just seek justice.

The panel was briefly interrupted by people demanding to be let in, talking about how they had come from so far away to see their idol and they deserved a place in the hall, going so far as to allege regionalist sentiments.

Lastly, the session on “Tilism-e-Hoshruba” was paneled by Shahnaz Aijazuddin and Navid Riaz and moderated by Salman Akram Raja. The session was a delightful talk about the history of Tilism and its significance in Urdu literature interspersed with readings from both the classical Urdu printing and the beautiful translation by Shahnaz Aijazuddin.

The final session was a double presentation. The first part consisted of the launch of “One Billion Rising” which had speeches by Kamla Bhasin, Eve Ensler and Monique Wilson who all passionately talked about the issues facing women the world over and how the issues are far reaching and not just limited to their effect on women. The second part was a series of performances by Rafi Peer Theater of the Sufi heritage. It included performances by Saien Zahoor, Wahdat Rameez, Hasnain Javed, Ustad Krishan Lal Bheel and Akhter Jalal Zehri.