I spent part of last week in Lahore and Karachi speaking to booksellers and publishers. I had limited time, so I decided not to go to booksellers in posh neighbourhoods who take great pride in not having any Urdu titles. Instead, I went to see my colleagues and friends in old Urdu bazars in the two cities and in the neighborhoods around them. As always, my colleagues were kind, generous, patient and extremely hospitable. The places were varied. In one location, there was a group of people who came in, took a bunch of selfies in front of bookstacks in different poses and left. At another bookstore, the street in front had big puddles of water which was being sprayed sideways by moving motorcycles. When I inquired whether it had rained recently, the shopkeeper looked at me with a puzzled look and told me that no, it had not rained. This was an overflowing sewage drain. It had been like that for several months – clearly it had been over a year since I had last come.

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