Experiencing the Adab festival without Asif Farrukhi was a heartbreaking experience.
The fourth iteration of the literary festival was held from November 26-27 at Frere Hall in Karachi, and it focused on the topic of climate change.
The fourth iteration of the Adab Festival took place in Karachi, and it was a very personal and emotionally taxing event for the co-founder of the festival, Ameena Saiyid, and her crew. Not only because it was the first time the festival was held without its creator, Asif Farrukhi, but also because it was the first time the festival opened its doors to a live audience after a hiatus of three years.
An ode to the role model
After Farrukhi passed away, Saiyid recruited Shama Askari, a former student of his, to serve as the new director of the project. Askari is a theatre artist by trade, and she first encountered Farrukhi at the beginning of Tlism Festival in 2005. Ever since then, she has been a part of several of Farrukhi’s projects.
Since the beginning of the Adab Festival in 2019, whether it was through dramatic readings or dance performances, I had always been a part of it, with the exception of the year 2021, when I injured my foot. So you can imagine how overwhelmed I was when Ameena jee requested me to participate in the festival as an organiser, a director, and a contributor. The answer is obvious: yes. “It was a debt I owed to Asif Sahab — a debt of thanks,” a heavy-hearted Askari said in a telephone discussion with The Express Tribune. “It was a debt of thankfulness.”
Askari went on to reflect on how challenging it was for her to come to terms with Farrukhi’s passing, particularly in light of the fact that her work suddenly felt like it was hanging without any support. A collection of short stories written in Urdu by Ibn-e-Sa’id and translated into English by Askari with supervision from Farrukhi. The collection is titled Hiroshima and Other Stories. This year’s Adab Festival served as the venue for the book’s debut.
“We were very close to one other. The fact that the book is finally being published seems impossible to believe given how far we have come. She paused before continuing, “You know, the book launch was more of a closure for me than anything else.” I couldn’t find him in the middle of the project. No one was present to oversee my work and make sure I was performing it correctly; nobody was there. Asif Sahab was the common link between all of my contacts, including Aamer Hussain, Zubeda Mustafa, and Ameena. It was a satisfying end to a chapter in my life.”
When Askari learned that her book would be published by a certain company, she quickly contacted Farrukhi. He committed to penning a preface for the publication. After another 12 days, he passed away. The book still has the introduction as well as some of his translations, and this was done with the approval of his daughter, Ghazal Farrukhi.
During Askari’s book launch at the Adab Festival, the event had to be cut short due to time constraints. “When you’re in charge of organising something, the adrenaline and the sense of impending doom are usually at such a high level that you don’t realise how quickly the event goes by. I can only remember a limited amount of what I could have said during the speech, as well as how much of the book I could have read as extracts. To tell you the truth, it was an overpowering experience that also served as a godsend. As I already stated, it was an obligation of appreciation.
Askari recounted that her son, who was in attendance, commented that he could sense a tremble in her voice towards the end of her reading. He was referring to the fact that she was getting emotional. “That should give you an idea of how emotionally charged the encounter was,” she said.
An homage to the environment
The Adab Festival is an annual event that focuses on environmental issues. This year’s goal was to promote literature from both the United States and other countries that focuses on the devastation caused by natural disasters. “The conversation about climate change is the most important one taking place in the world right now, and it is of the utmost significance that we participate in it, especially with young people. The festival provided a forum in which we were able to discuss the influence that it has had, in particular on women and, of course, on the mental health of those individuals. There has been a population shift. Askari went on to explain that “we have a responsibility to preserve Karachi,” and that “there was so much motivation to take away from the incident.”
The desire to reclaim public places led us to select Frere Hall as the location for our event. I believe that the majority of individuals witnessed the interior of Frere Hall and its library for the very first time, particularly the masses.” After that, she went on to discuss the two primary objectives of this year’s festival, which were inclusion and representation. “It is our desire to eradicate inequality, close the socio-economic gap, and make Adab available to people in all walks of life.” Because of this, attendance at the festival is completely free, and anyone can attend.
When asked which section was her particular favourite, Askari hesitated for a considerable amount of time before responding. She cried, “It’s a difficult question, but if I have to choose a favourite, there are two.” “It’s a difficult question,” she said.
“The first one was published under the name ‘Karachi Ka Adab.’ Because you are aware that Karachi is the ultimate melting point of all cultures and languages, we came to the conclusion that it would be beneficial to invite authors, scholars, and linguistic experts to the table so that they may share adab from their own languages and cultures. Taha Kehar (English), Syed Kashif (Urdu), Attiya Dawood (Sindhi), and Zahida Raees (Balochi) got together and had the most enlightening conversation possible. We had a lot of hopes of incorporating Memoni, Gujarati, and other languages as well, but we simply did not have the time.
“Contagious Connectivity” came in second place as the most popular choice. During the discussion, Dr. Samina Zahir, FRSA, from the United Kingdom, and Naila Mahmood talked about art, the pandemic, and how the three relate to each other in terms of providing comfort. It essentially investigated how Covid enabled artists from all over the world to communicate with one another and produce.
Askari referred to the yearly event as a continuing creative process when discussing the prospects of the Adab Festival after the passing of one of its founders. “There is no such thing as a static piece of creative work; all such work is inherently fluid and organic. Yes, we will have a movement as long as individuals continue to exhibit their work and take pride in their own cultural identities, even if some of its outputs take on a different form than what was originally envisioned for them.
