'' DIRGE FOR KARACHI '' : BOOK REVIEW

 

'' NA MURAD KARACHI '' is a strange book, comprising apparently disparate short essays or sketches about various prominent and obscure people from : 

Writers, poets, artists, politicians, bureaucrats, neighbours, cousins, baggers, prostitutes, peons, dancers, transpersons, moulvis, snitches, waiters, smugglers, magicians, gamblers and pimps.

The writer met these people over a span of sixty years from early 1960s to the present day in the titular metropolis which, according to him, was '' destroyed with planning, '' and which he returned to after an almost 20-year-long stay in the United States.

These essays do not deal with those people in a prosaic manner. They often highlight some fundamental aspect of their personalities in a style akin to that of a short story.

Like a good storyteller, he also sometimes tells his readers scandalous rumours about these real characters with the disclaimer that he has no means to prove or disprove them.

The book narrates how this tolerant and vibrant city metamorphosed into a city of fear, backwardness, communal unrest, concrete jungles and commercialised religiosity.

Na Murad Karachi reads more like a candid conversation than a formal written discourse.

The writer continually refers to different areas, neighborhoods, streets, alleys and even houses and shops of the city which ignites the interest of a reader who has lived here. However, those unfamiliar with Karachi may find these references confusing.

Interestingly, the book does not delve deeply into the writer's personal story, especially his romantic relationships. Nor does it detail his long stay in the United States.

It seems that Fatmi's true love is the city itself, to which he migrated alone from Dhaka in the early 1960s.

The book is a testament to his deep affection for the metropolis and its people. It celebrates its past while mourning its present. It is both a song of praise and a dirge for Karachi, a city that provides for everyone :

Regardless of ethnicity, religion, colour or class, but which has always been exploited, plundered and devastated.

The World Students Society thanks Zeeshan Jaffri, a social worker based in Karachi.