Baithak Desi Jun 20: Abul Khair Kashfi, Salman Rashid, Raman, News & Views, Cartoons

My grandfather Abul Khair Kasfhi was born in Kanpur, India, in 1930 to a well-known literary family. His father Saquib Kanpuri was a distinguished poet of Urdu and Persian. Dada, as I called him, once told me that he did not attend school until the age of 11 and was taught Urdu, Arabic and Persian at home. Being extremely fond of meetha, he would spend a holiday at the halwayee and finish off an entire kilo of gulaab jamans or barfi by the end of the day! Dada especially loved to eat ice-cream and mangoes — despite being a diabetic since his early 30s. He migrated to Pakistan in 1948 and settled in Karachi, the then capital city. He studied at the Sindh University and then Islamia College where he later taught as a professor of Urdu and finally, at the University of Karachi. By Ayesha Tahira Akif


Tyrwhitt seems to have done rather well for he held this assignment for a good thirteen years. That was time long enough for legends to grow around him after he had departed
On a pedestal in the Karonjhar —Salman Rashid


The Far Right, which is at once fiercer and more fragmented than ever before, bids fair for power in New Delhi. This is the dire warning for the anti-communal forces, also in disarray, from the Ketkar and Nandy episodes
Not articles of their faith —J Sri Raman


If you want to know where to buy books in Karachi check this out: Where to get your reading fix in Karachi?

News & Views

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Maxim - Today's Cartoon