The literarty event was hosted by Mumbai and Lahore on 22 April.
Bridging the gap between India and Pakistan, a team of literature enthusiasts has set out to remind others that fiction can transcend borders and barriers. Literary events were hosted at Mumbai and Lahore simultaneously on April 22 as a prologue to the 'Indo-Pak Project', an initiative of an online magazine The Bombay Review.
A brainchild of the magazine's Editor-in-Chief Kaartikeya Bajpai (21), the Indo-Pak Project aims to establish a connection between the two nations using words, stories, ideas and a mutual love for literature. Beginning with literary events, the project expands to a special issue of the magazine, the May-June issue, dedicated solely to entries from India and Pakistan, while encouraging diasporic writers.
"I have always found Pakistan to be a country with powerful literature. We have received many entries from there, along with a wide audience of readers. So, I was looking to do something in collaboration with Pakistan, considering the growing literary scene there. Luckily, our managing editor, Huda Merchant, who hails from Saudi Arabia had a few Pakistani friends who loved literature as well, and by networking more, we found that we had a team ready to host an event in Lahore," said Bajpai.
The Bombay Review, based out in New York and Mumbai, was started in 2014 by Bajpai and his peers at Symbiosis International University, Pune. A bi-monthly literary magazine publishing poetry and fiction, the venture has drawn readers and aspiring writers from 90 countries and hosted literary interactions in several.
The events in Mumbai, held at Somaiya Bhavan, included a panel discussion with authors Annie Zaidi and Janhavi Acharekar, a workshop on short story writing with Karishma Attari and a poetry slam celebrating the spoken word. Similar events were held in Lahore as well, and live streaming for international followers of the magazine.
"Not every exchange with Pakistan need bring up political tensions. We share a rich culture, be it biryani, cricket, Fawad Khan or anything else. This is an incentive to rejoice our similarities over magnifying our differences," said Bajpai.
Organising the event on the other side of the fence is Zuha Siddiqui, a firm believer in a bright future ahead for the two nations. "Cultural exchanges, such as this project, are accomplishing that what the governments of India and Pakistan have failed to bring about. Creative collaborations can help us leave behind state narratives of antagonism and violence, and look at things afresh," she said.
"The Lahore Literary Festival, for instance, has always featured panelists from India and subsequently, the Jaipur Literature Festival has hosted several Pakistani panelists, including one of the panelists at our Lahore event, Kanza Javed," she added. Literature festivals often bring out realisations of oneness, but smaller events are crucial too, opined Bajpai. "Literary festivals don't allow individual interaction with writers. I am trying to change this," said Bajpai.
Guided by a Board of Advisors, including the likes of Manu Joseph and Anita Nair, The Bombay Review now seeks to set up a branch in Lahore, having done so in countries like Nigeria and Somalia.
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