On 10th November 2025, Pakistan lost the beloved scholar Dr. Arfa Sayeda Zehra; and Lahore, its greatest lover, as she liked to call herself. Urdu lost a great educationist, Joy of Urdu lost its Chief Patron and Advisor, and I lost a mentor, a guide, and a friend.
There are so many aspects to her personality, so many different memories, that when I was asked to write tributes by different publications, I decided to focus on a different aspect for each one. Ananke Magazine organized the first online Women in Literature Festival, so it seemed logical to concentrate on the topic of literature festivals, and Arfa Apa as she was known to many of her friends and mentees.
No litfest or academic event seemed to be complete without a keynote speech by her, or at least a few of the most well-attended sessions. Her 2022 convocation address to the graduating class at LUMS (Lahore University of Management Sciences, Pakistan), went viral, and is the only LUMS convocation speech I, like many others, have ever seen.
Even my first meetings with her were at literature festivals in Pakistan. I had first started hearing about her in 2011 when Ameena Saiyid and Asif Aslam Farrukhi established the first literature festivals in Pakistan. My mother who lives in Karachi, told me that if I ever got a chance to attend any literature festival in Pakistan, to make sure I attended a session with Dr. Arfa, because, as she explained, using the Urdu phrase “Jab voh bolti hain, tau phool jharte hain” (when she speaks, it seems as if flowers are being strewn).
It would be 2016 when I eventually got the opportunity to hear her in conversation with one of Urdu’s greatest contemporary poets, Zehra Nigah, moderated by the eminent Urdu poetry connoisseur Qasim Jafri.
I had recently moved from Moscow to Paris where I had founded Joy of Urdu, to fulfill my own need to reclaim my literary heritage, catalyzed by a lack of resources for my Third Culture Kid, and this was the very first literature festival I had ever attended in my life.I was truly like a kid in a candy shop! The exchange of ideas, the opportunity to see and hear beloved authors and poets, to discover new ones: it was a kind of a rock concert for book nerds, and one where you could get an autograph via a book signing!
The first time I heard Dr. Arfa speak! LLF 2016, Lahore
Photo Credit: Zarminae Ansari
The second time was at the Islamabad Literature Festival. As an activist, she had been a part of the ILF 2016 in a panel “Women’s Protection: Yeh Bill Maangay More” about a women’s protection bill. She was often asked to speak on a wide variety of topics, and yet always kept listeners enthralled. For example, in the same festival, she also spoke in a panel about fantasy and classical literature, “Tilism-e-Hoshruba: Enchantment of the Senses“.
One aspect of Arfa Apa’s impeccable manners was visible at these litfests, along with her wit and eloquence. It was the restraint with which she politely, yet firmly debated issues on stage in front of hundreds of people. Even if it was a large-than-life, equally eloquent, equally engaging celebrity, Arfa Apa, a diminutive figure on stage compared to him, not only held her own, she decimated his arguments and provocative statements.
Always generous, whether it was with her affection, her knowledge, or material things: Arfa Apa’s large heartedness knew no bounds. Of the many gifts I was fortunate enough to receive from her, one of the last ones was also a lit-fest related one: a scarf she received from the 2022 Faisalabad Literature Festival.
There was a time when it was possible for writers and authors to attend festivals across the border. At this year’s Faiz Festival, the audience witnessed a moving scene of the Indian delegation coming up to touch her feet in respect. It was also a literature festival, in which another staple of literature festivals from across the border, Dr. Saif Mahmood, would be participating, however, it would be years before Arfa Apa who was deeply fond of him, introduced us. High praise from her in his highly acclaimed book “Beloved Delhi: A Mughal City And Her Greatest Poets”, is included in recent editions.
“Dekhiye Saif ne kya kamaal kiya hai. Unki kitaab mein aath shaayar nahin hain, aath muarrikh hain jo apne apne ahad ki taareekh likhte hain. Aur jis tarah usko Saif ne aapas mein buna hai, kahin vo aapko tanqeed nahin lagti. Kahin ye nahin lagtaa ke Saif un se kahin alag baithke chhaan-been kar ke baat bataa rahe hain. Mujhe toh ye lagtaa hai jaise Saif unke saath-saath chal rahe tthe, jab vo sher kehte thhe toh vo unhe gungunaata hua sun lete thhe. Ye aap us waqt kar sakte hain jab aap apni tehzeeb aur apni taareekh se bohot qareeb ho’n.” (Look at the wonder Saif has wrought. Rather than eight poets, his book offers us eight chroniclers writing their own histories. Saif’s interweaving of these stories does not appear as simply a critical analysis or a research project undertaken by someone far removed from those events. It seems to me as if Saif were walking alongside these poets, listening to them humming their couplets. You can only do this when you are very close to your own culture and history.)
This was an example of her great generosity of spirit and her love of hard work, excellence, and Urdu: she lauded good research and dedication, and was not just generous with praise but with her time. I did not know that in the beginning, and often felt as if I was imposing on her already hectic schedule.
Joy of Urdu, is a bilingual, international, and completely volunteer-run organization for the promotion of Urdu language and literature, for which she became the Chief Patron and Advisor.I had taught and given talks in academic institutions, been part of panel discussions, but the very first literature festival I participated in was the Ananke’s Women’s Literature Festival online in 2021. I was too embarrassed to tell Arfa Apa, fearing I would waste her precious time that was already in great demand by everyone, all the time. She sent me a whatsapp message admonishing me for not telling her in advance but affectionately congratulating me as well. Eventually, I would discuss both the important, and the everyday with her, and request her input on everything under the sun. I would share every small concern, admit to what was worrying me. She listened, she gave advice when needed, and she always made me feel better, more hopeful, more focused.
We would go on to appear in various festivals together including the Pakistan Learning Festival organized by Idara Taaleem o Aagahi, in 2021, the Faiz Festival in Lahore over a number of years, and Jashne Rekhta in Dubai in 2024, where we launched our book. Joy of Urdu Publications’ first bilingual book, a Collector’s Edition marking the launch, was awarded the ADA Award by an international jury in February 2025. It is the only book in print to my knowledge, with her name on the cover. This makes the edition even more special.
(L to R): Syed Shamoon Hashmi, Dr. Arfa, Zarminae Ansari. Faiz Festival 2023, Lahore
Jashne Rekhta is the world’s largest stage for Urdu, and I was understandably anxious. I need not have been. I was buttressed on either side by two formidable personalities: Dr. Arfa Sayeda Zehra and Zehra Nigah, one of Urdu Poetry’s greatest contemporary poets.
The following month, we were scheduled to launch the book at the Faiz Festival in Lahore. However, I had to return to Portugal at the last minute due to some unavoidable circumstances, but once again, Arfa Apa, Zehrta Apa, and Joy of Urdu’s eloquent lAdvisor, moderator par excellence, Aleem Zubair launched the book seamlessly.
(L to R): Zehra Nigah, Dr. Arfa, Aleem Zubair. Faiz Festival 2024, Lahore.
In December 2024, the National Academy of Performing Arts (NAPA, Karachi) hosted a special event for our book which had not yet won the ADA Award. In the panel discussion with me were Bari Mian, Yasmeen Mozaffer, and Junaid Zuberi, moderated by Ali Habib, with readings from the book by the popular Aunty Tashi who did regular storytelling sessions in a popular online weekly series called Joy of Urdu Saturday Storytime with Germany Chapter coordinator and Joy of Urdu patron, Muzna Malik.
However, when I started speaking, I was standing on the podium alone, without the support of Arfa Apa this time, and I choked up, missing her comforting presence as she could not make it to Karachi. It took an encouraging “take your time” from the inimitable Ruby Haider, from our Karachi Chapter Team, and Joy of Urdu Advisor Ambassador (retd.) Attiya Mahmood, to get me on track as I tried to remember Dr. Arfa’s advice about speaking on stage.
Bari Mian, Junaid Zuberi, Yasmin Mozaffar, Zarminae Ansari, Ali Habib. NAPA, Karachi 2024
After that, there seemed to be no looking back.
This year, thanks to Arfa Apa’s training I launched the book at the Karachi Literature Festival with the giant of Urdu poetry, Iftikhar Husain Arif in the front row, along with dear friends including award-winning novelist Uzma Aslam Khan, and Joy of Urdu Advisor, veteran journalist Beena Sarwar. Not only that, but I found myself moderating a panel discussion on KLF’s largest stage with Iftikhar Arif sahab, writer, columnist, and poet Harris Khalique, and Ashfaque Hussain, Pakistani-Canadian Urdu poet, writer, and literary figure!
Zarminae Ansari, Ashfaque Hussain, Iftikhar Hussain Arif, Harris Khalique. KLF, 2025
One of Joy of Urdu’s Advisors, Dr. Ashwin Joshi (York University, Toronto) helped us launch the Joy of Urdu Toronto-Mississauga Chapter and in front of a packed audience in one of the largest auditoriums at University of Toronto, he said that he had never heard of Dr. Arfa before, but was intrigued to find out who she was and to listen to her speak on the podium because in his entire teaching career, he had never seen as much interest in any speaker before. People flew in from Boston for Arfa Apa, drove from up to 6 hours away to see her on that podium.
In a recent tribute video for our campaign #JoyOfUrduRemembersArfaApa Dr. Radhika Chopra sang so poignantly “Aap Ki Yaad Aati Rahi” (Memories of you continued to fill my mind) from the Shyam Benegal film Gaman. Arfa Apa trained me to speak in front of an audience by speaking from the heart. How will I stand on the podium with this heart: broken, grieving along with the audience at the upcoming literature festivals next year, that will no longer be enthralled by the words of the incomparable. Irreplaceable Dr. Arfa Sayeda Zehra?
Zarminae Ansari is an architect (National College of Arts, Lahore) with a Masters from MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge), concentrating on research and writing. She is an author, journalist, producer in various media, and cultural tourism consultant. As the founder of the bilingual, international, volunteer-run organization, Joy of Urdu, she worked closely with the organization’s Chief Patron and Advisor, Dr. Arfa for years.
