KARACHI: Literature buffs tasted a slice of contemporary Urdu short story at an event titled `Shaam-i-Afsana` organised by the literary committee of the Karachi Press Club and held in the club`s Ibrahim Jalees Hall on Saturday evening.

A total of 14 short stories were read out by as many writers. The programme began with Rafiullah Mian`s story `Gandum l
Nishat is a seasoned storyteller and his story touched upon the duality of existence by showing two different sides of a coin by virtue of two characters.

`Zamindar ki beti` by Iqbal Khurshid, `Aik mazloom aurat ki dastaan` by Hanif Omer,`Khall dabba` by Dr Sabin Hashmat, `Titli` by Shakir Anwar, `Aena` by Asif Maalik, `Arre aap meri baat samjhey nahin` by Ehtisham Anwar, `Margi-mussarrat` by Jameel Adeel, `Common sense by Zahid Husain, `Roshni` by Salim Azar and a very short piece by Mohiuddin Azam focused on societal issues using a realistic method complemented by plain diction.

Usman Ghazi`s `Loudspeaker` did the same but employed the metaphor of the loudspeaker highlighting sectarian tensionsin Pakistanisociety.

After the readings, noted critics expressed their views on the stories. Saba Ikram said in the 1960s modernism crept into Urdu fiction, after which abstraction, led by Dr Enver Sajjad in Pakistan, took over. He said there were senior writers present in the audience, such as A.

Khayyam, whose stories had been published in the reputed literary magazine, Shabkhoon. Helauded the writers who had presented their stories and was of the opinion that a new wave of storytellers was coming up, which was a healthy sign.

A. Khayyam said he didn`t believe in the genre of afshancha (very short story or flash fiction), which was why when he was told that page-long tales would be read at the press club, he was a little sceptical about it. However, he said, the tales that he heard from the writers were good enough.

Critic Nasim Anjum appreciated all the stories echoing the previous speakers` optimistic assertions.

Writer and journalist Zabe Azkar said the purpose of the event was to see how contemporary Urdu fiction was shaping up. He acknowledged the fact that stories written in different styles were presented, but complained that none had any metaphor-driven subject. He was also critical of some of the past masters who defied logic in their creative pursuits. He urged the young writers to put more effort into their creative endeavours.

Secretary of the Karachi Arts Council Ahmed Shah, who presided over the literary event, argued that our writers needed to read world literature. In that connection, he asked them to go through works of the likes of Ajmal Kamal who were publishing translations of stories from all across the world. He said unless writers developed a style (asloob) of their own, it would be difficult for them to carve a niche in the literary world. Alluding to an earlier speaker`s argument, he said great stories had a combination of both subjective (dakhli) and objective (kharfi) realities.

A. H. Khanzada thanked the guests for taking part in the programme.

The event was conducted by Shabbir Soomro.