Karachi Literature Festival: Another Pakistani attempt to look normal

Back in college I liked taking Psychology.  One particular theory in Psychology had a resonance in the physical world where results often influence the processes generating them (the results)—a feedback.  Carl Jung and others acknowledged that physical realities can and do impact your psychology, but they went on to theorize that your psychology too can, in a feedback fashion, impact the physical realities.  Put simply, lifting something heavy can put an automatic frown on your face.  But if, while lifting the heavy weight, you start smiling, the weight you are lifting may become lighter for you.  Pakistani fashion shows, literature festivals, sports meets, and trade exhibitions, all are trying to do the same thing. They are meant to make Pakistan look and feel normal. A country encumbered by three different wars—the War on Terror (an international ordeal), a sectarian-based civil war (Islamic state’s internal tussle), and separation movements (skeletons, with vengeance, coming out of the closet of  a history of bad governance and uneven development)—is trying to put a huge smile on its face.

Here are some of the bright minds I ran into on the second day of the Sixth Annual Karachi Literature Festival. http://www.karachiliteraturefestival.org/

Pervez Hoodbhoy, Ajmal Kamal, Harris Khalique, Mustansar Hussain Tarar, Abida Hussain, Mujahid Barelvi
 اسلام آباد اور کراچی جشن ادب، پرویز ہودبھاءی، عاصمہ جہانگیر، اجمل کمال، حارث خلیق، مستنصر حسین تارڑ، عابدہ حسین، مجاہد بریلوی