Because I was a panelist in a few sessions and also because I have been a member of the outgoing governing body of the Pakistan Arts Council, Karachi, I would hesitate to write in detail about the seventeenth Alami Urdu Conference that concluded last Sunday. Its specific theme this year was Karachi across the entire range of its life and legacy.

But I would like to zoom in on an aspect of the conference that I consider quite significant. This, in my view, was the dominant presence of young people in a number of programmes. This was the reason that some sessions were held in the nearby YMCA grounds. And the response by the young was very enthusiastic.

Typically, young people are conspicuous by their absence in serious literary and cultural deliberations. Civil society campaigns are generally deprived of any spirited participation of the young. Yes, there are some particular occasions that attract them in droves, such as popular music and sports events.

A literary conference is certainly not their cup of tea. And, for that matter, the young did not actually throng presentations that were more academic. What brought them out mostly, to be honest, was the presence of celebrities that have a large following.

Now, it may be argued that these celebrities did not entirely belong to a literary conference – though it is very possible to engage them in a serious discourse. But it was by design that the attendance of the young was ensured and they, in the process, were also exposed to........

© The News International