[Reader-list] A book on Karachi

[Ajmal Kamal]

*A PROPOSAL TO PUBLISH THE BOOK*

*STORY OF **KARACHI*

*IN ENGLISH AND URDU*

12 September 2006



*Background*

The Urdu quarterly *Aaj* (literally meaning "Today") is published from
Karachi, Pakistan, since 1989 under the editorship of Ajmal Kamal. Usually
it is an anthology of literary prose and poetry from different languages and
parts of the world translated into Urdu, apart from original,
ground-breaking writings in Urdu, for Pakistani and Indian readership.
Fifty-four issues have come out so far which have secured a small but
meaningful readership for the journal and have been critically acclaimed.

*The Special Issue on **Karachi*

In 1996, a special two-volume, above 800-page issue of the quarterly
*Aaj*was published devoted to the city of Karachi under the title
"Karachi ki
Kahani" ("Story of Karachi"). It was very well received by readers and
reviewers alike. The following excerpts from a few of the press reviews tell
about the range and quality of the material put together in the special
issue:

A compendium on Karachi: a hundred years hence, this two-volume compilation
will serve as a source of basic information about this megapolis.

― Muhammad Ali Siddiqui,* Dawn*, Karachi, 7 June 1996



Ajmal Kamal, who produced an earlier number of *Aaj *on the ethnic cauldron
of former Yugoslavia, has tried to get to Karachi's personality and its
concealed layers of self-destruction. The two volumes under review are an
act of courage… Ajmal Kamal has performed the incredible task of unearthing
the real history of a city exploited by its leaders… The two volumes of *Aaj
* provide new ways of looking at the city and ourselves.

*― *Khaled Ahmed,* The Friday Times*, Lahore, 21-29 May 1996



We must all celebrate the publication of the two volumes of *Aaj* on Karachi
titled *Karachi** ki Kahani*. We have here, almost for the first time, a
window on Karachi which affords an expansive revealing view of the various
transformations that the city has endured… *Karachi ki Kahani *may still be
partially told but* Aaj *has fostered our essential kinship with a city in
which the nation's own crisis of identity must be resolved.

*― *Ghazi Salahuddin,* Newsline*, Karachi, May 1996



This anthology of writings on Karachi is a painstaking labour of love, an
attempt to rescue the city from the kind of thinking which can lead only to
despair… The effort that has gone into the selection and editing of the
material and the translation from English and Sindhi must have called for
almost a superhuman stamina for work, to say nothing of a dedication to the
ideal of creating an environment of harmony and peace in a city torn by
senseless dissensions.
*― *M. H. Askari,* The Herald*, Karachi, June 1996


*Contributors*

The two-volume anthology is dedicated to the memory of Jamshed Nusserwanji
Mehta, Karachi's benefactor and long-time head of the Karachi Municipality.
The writings of the following are included in the anthology:

Naomal Hotchand, John Brunton, K.R. Malkani, Pir Ali Mohammad Rashdi,
Nagendranath Gupta, Lokram Dodeja, Sohrab Katrak, Dr. Feroz Ahmed, G. D.
Khosla, Mohan Kalpana, Shaikh Ayaz, Sobho Gyanchandani, Kewal Motwani, Hatim
Alvi, Hasan Habib, A. K. Brohi, Anwar Shaikh, Mir Imdad Ali, Abdul Hameed
Shaikh, Hasan Manzar, Asad Mohammad Khan, Sigrid Kahle, Anita Ghulam Ali,
Fahmida Riaz, Akhtar Hameed Khan, Asif Farrukhi, Mohammad Hanif, Zeenat
Hisam, Benjamin Anthony, Sharif Soz, Liaquat Munawwar, Bexter Bhatti,
Nasreen Stephen, Asif Shahbaz, Mahboob Jan, Tasneem Siddiqui, Kenneth
Fernandez, Jan van der Linden, S Akbar Zaidi, Mark Tully, Arif Hasan.


*The Proposed Book: Story of **Karachi*
It is proposed that a book, based on the special issue of *Aaj*, be
published simultaneously in English and Urdu under the title  *Story of
Karachi *and *Karachi** ki Kahani* respectively. Each edition (English and
Urdu) will consist of two volumes of around 430 pages each. The Urdu and
Sindhi writings included in the special issue have been translated into
English and are being copy-edited at the moment. The proposed date of
publication is 01 January 2007. The tentative price of the two-volume set
would be:

English: Rs.950
Urdu: Rs.950


*How can you participate?*

You can participate and earn a grateful acknowledgement in the proposed book
in one of the following ways:

1. Help in getting financial support for the production of the book;
2. Give design input;
3. Get advance orders for the book


-- 
Ajmal Kamal
City Press
Publishing House, Bookshop and Film Club
316 Madina City Mall, Abdullah Haroon Road, Saddar, Karachi 74400, Pakistan.
Tel: (92-21) 5650623, 5213916
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