Dealing with a post-Sabeen vacuum

In 2007, the super cool thing was The Second Floor (T2F). At the time it was located on the first floor of a commercial building on Karachi’s Khayaban-e-Ittehad.

“It’s a place where you can talk about anything without any judgment,” is how a friend describes it. It got people talking, thinking and pushed them out of their comfort zones. People of all age groups — from the terrible tweens to the post-retirement garden party brigade — everyone flocked to this tiny space and then later on, when T2F relocated, to Sunset Lane 5. They went because there was someone there providing them with a space to think and talk freely.

That someone was Sabeen Mahmud.

Born in 1974, Sabeen, a social and human rights activist, described herself on social media as a post-modern flower child. She decided to set up T2F as a space for open dialogue: a platform for social change through discussions, advocacy and activities. It was also the first project of the PeaceNiche (others include Faraar, a playground for creative expression, Science ka Adda and the Urdu Poetry Preservation Project).

Sabeen was a permanent fixture at T2F, always guiding people on where to sit, telling them to put their phones on silent or just switch them off so the ongoing event was not interrupted.

“It’s a place where you can drink [coffee], relax, play board games and have a conversation with a complete stranger and there’s nothing weird about it,” says a woman who goes to T2F every week.

The events included art exhibitions, film screenings, book launches and talks on all sorts of issues - gender equality, violence, Sufism, science and politics. Sabeen, 40, also organised the Creative Karachi Festival and social media conferences.

In 2015, she was shot dead on her way home after hosting a talk on enforced disappearances in Balochistan, a talk which was initially scheduled to take place at the Lahore University of Management Sciences but was cancelled due to security concerns. After her death, the city came together to remember a woman who was always willing to learn and try new things. In her Instagram and Twitter posts before her death, Sabeen had talked about her newfound love for cricket and understanding Qawwalis.

Sabeen knew of vibrant public spaces from Pakistan's past and was in love with them. She used to tell Kidwai that they should have one of those old 'chai and coffee' places

Zaheer Kidwai, who was her boss, mentor and friend, says that when he moved to Pakistan with his family in September 1947, there used to be many places where people could sit and talk. “There used to be a Café Firdous where all the poets and writers used to gather in front of Paradise Hotel. Then there was Fredrick’s Cafeteria near Regal Cinema. There were two coffee houses where lots of people gathered, writers, journalists, poets. And they were good coffee shops,” he recalls. “Then, in the 70s there was a place in PECHS run by a poet who invited other poets and writers such as Mushtaq Ahmed Yusufi. There were custom clubs which had regular meetings and mushairas; now there’s nothing left.”

Sabeen knew of such places and was in love with them. She used to tell Kidwai that they should have one of those old ‘chai and coffee’ places. “T2F is a brilliant and modern version of them,” he says.

Sabeen’s friend, architect Marvi Mazhar, worked as director of T2F for a year after her murder and made sure the events kept rolling till her contract expired in December 2016. In January 2017, Khalid Mahmood was introduced as the new chairperson. Sabeen’s mother Mahenaz introduced him via a Facebook post as a longtime benefactor of T2F:

“As many of you know, after Sabeen lost her lease on the first T2F space on Khayaban-e-Ittehad in 2010, a donor who believed in Sabeen offered her our current space (for Rs100 a year). He chose to remain anonymous — a testament to the depth of his character. I asked him to join the PeaceNiche Board last year, to which he graciously agreed, despite his extremely busy schedule as CEO for Getz Pharma, as well as serving on a slew of other boards.”

“It’s an alternative space for people who are tired of just going to the cinema, eating out or hanging out at home,” says Sara, a college student going over past papers at the café.

"The Pakistan Chowk Initiative's basic mission is to rehabilitate the chowk, bring it back to its glory and revive the concept of public squares"

“If you don’t fit in anywhere, you fit in here,” says her friend.

Sabeen’s mother had said, in an interview with The Express Tribune: “The PeaceNiche and its flagship project, T2F, are Sabeen’s gifts to Karachi and Pakistan. Inspired by T2F, others have already founded similar community spaces in Karachi and other cities of Pakistan. I hope to see many more T2Fs emerge and be successful in years to come.”

Marvi Mazhar has been working on a similar setup in a public space. With the help of the Sindh government and the Pakistan Peoples Party’s Sharmila Faruqi, Mazhar rehabilitated Pakistan Chowk in Saddar. The pre-Partition chowk has a monument from the Zia era and benches dedicated to heroes of the city, including Sabeen, the late Dawn columnist Ardeshir Cowasjee and Orangi Pilot Project’s Perween Rahman.

These days Mazhar is leading the Pakistan Chowk Initiative where they hold talks, art fairs and just hang out.

“The Pakistan Chowk Initiative’s basic mission is to rehabilitate the chowk, bring it back to its glory and revive the concept of public squares,” she says. “Artists such as Feica and many others come here every Sunday to draw and paint. They also teach people who are interested in learning their art.”

Spaces such as the Karachi Arts Council, the National Academy of the Performing Arts at the Hindu Gymkhana and Irtiqa Institute of Social Science have also provided the citizens of Karachi with a platform to discuss civic issues and revel in the arts.

According to the Arts Council’s Ahmed Shah, the idea started taking root in 1954. “After Partition, a group of six people realised that there was no space for art and culture in Karachi… they started out as the Karachi Arts Society and used to put up exhibitions and plays at home,” he says. “The Arts council was the first space set up by a private organisation at the time. The building was up and running by 1958. It took around Rs. 700,000 to build and set up back then.”

Shah said there was no cultural infrastructure in Karachi. “We are the only place in this city of 22 million with a proper stage and acoustic system,” he says, adding that when he joined the council’s administration nearly 10 years ago, that was when the music, art and dance schools were set up. “Every year we try to introduce something new to the city. In 2008 it was the Aalmia Urdu Conference, then the eastern music festival, the youth festival, theatre festival and essay competitions,” he said. “You know we are having the country’s first dance festival this year with more than 200 dancers from all over the country. I am also planning on organising a national conference on culture in August to help overcome the ethnic divide in the city,” he added.

Tucked away on the second floor of a busy building in Gulshan-e-Iqbal is the Irtiqa Institute of Social Sciences.

Starting out in 1994, Irtiqa has evolved into a progressive think-tank which has held talks and workshops on the workers’ movement, Karachi’s water crisis, urban issues, the Great Mutiny of 1857 and many others. It is a small space but it has a large following - and it attracts young men and women who are trying to figure out where they fit in the social and political structure of the city.

Basil Andrews, a journalist who hangs out at public spaces, started going to Irtiqa about two years ago. The first event he attended there was a session on Bahria Town. “I go to Irtiqa because their conversations are more critical. The stuff they organise…the dissenting voice that they have become… they have an alternative narrative,” he says. He adds that that he likes their minimal setup and their ‘making do with whatever you have’ philosophy.

“The first time I went to T2F was 2010/11 to attend a talk by Toufiq Pasha on the environment – and then that was it,” says Andrews, adding that he started going there again after 2014. Now, he says, he usually goes there to work or meet people. “Some of my friends hang out there so we meet up. Initially when I would hang out there, the space was alien to me. I had my apprehensions, but now because I am familiar with it and how the space functions I am OK with it,” he adds.

Andrews is also a regular at Pakistan Chowk. “It is good for days when there is no traffic in the area: so Sundays are the best time to go,” he explains.

According to a journalist who has covered the Arts Council and NAPA for over a decade, both places are very important to the heartbeat of the city. “They have done quite a bit, when you talk about drawing in the middle-classes and providing them with access to arts-related events in the city,” he says. “T2F, on the other hand, is doing a fabulous job without a shadow of doubt, but unfortunately there is an ‘elitist’ tag attached to it.  Although Sabeen and others tried to remove that tag…I suppose it’s just because it is in Defence,” he adds. Unconvinced by the criticisms revolving around perceived ‘elitism’, he feels that T2F has done a lot to draw in the middle classes and generally be an inclusive space.

“All three are doing a good job. Each has its shortcomings but given the fact that we are becoming a narrow-minded and insular society…if you keep that in mind, they are playing an important role. NAPA particularly has held some very daring and bold shows. All three need to be commended,” he believes.