For the love of writing: Young literati deliver their writings at LitLab

The event served as a platform to promote the talent of Pakistani youth

KARACHI: Creative, poetic and prose writings delivered in brilliant oratory styles came into highlight at The Second Floor (T2F) on Friday evening.

Young adults, albeit not in very high numbers, sat comfortably on the floor for LitLab, an open mic for poets, writers and spoken words artist, and listened to the writings by Pakistani youth.

LitLab strives to serve as an emerging platform to celebrate literary sessions at T2F. On the first Friday of every month, budding artists, writers, orators and adults who share a common love for reading and literary work sit and listen to one another. Each person is allotted nine minutes to read out personal piece, a published piece of someone else or an extract from writing-in-progress.

Theatre director and actor, Fawad Khan, showcased his oratory skills by reading Ismat Chughtai's short story Amar Bail. Khan, with his high and low nodes of humoristic storytelling, set the perfect ambience for the story that revolves around the dilemma of multiple marriages among men in the eastern world.

With back and forth change in feminine and masculine voices following the switch in characters along the story, Khan narrated the story much to the amusement of the audience, many of whom who had not read the story before.

Excerpts such as, "school jana aise he bhayanak tha jaise aj kal film main naach gaana [going to school was as horrific as singing and dancing in films today]", struck a chord with the young audience.

Next in line was a Canadian-based spoken words artist, Raazia, who read out a poem she had written about her mother. The poem celebrated the little technological upbeats attempts by the poet's mother to stay connected to her daughter's lifestyle. For instance, she appreciated how a space between colon and double brackets of a smiley (used commonly in digital chats) made it such a unique expression of a smile, characteristic of her mother's love

The poet laid out an intricate web of admiration for her mother, breaking the stereotype that the current generation is restricted to technological social interaction.

LitLab is open for people for all age groups who possess a zest for literature. The gesture of having young writers and poets on board is being extended to schools and universities as well, said the spokesperson. "We want everyone to be a part of it and use the platform of T2F to share their stories and writing," he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 26^th, 2015.