About a decade or so ago, I got to know a bookseller in Urdu bazar Karachi. This bookseller was introduced to me by a friend who runs a small Urdu magazine that focuses on literary criticism, essays and travel writing. The bookseller's shop is pretty much in the centre of Urdu bazar, and is surrounded by other booksellers. He had inherited this shop from his father, and over the years grew the business and developed a name for himself as someone who not only sells books, but is deeply familiar with the culture of Urdu bazar, connected to other booksellers and when possible convenes meetings of other authors interested in Urdu literature. I try to visit him every time I am in Karachi, and when I am with him I lose track of time, mesmerised by his knowledge. In the last decade, I have benefi

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