Before the death of Raza Rumi in July 2009, KK Aziz had accomplished one mission
that he had set for himself, i.e. to write about the Lahore Coffee House, the glorious nursery of ideas. Luckily, despite his failing health, Aziz finished a draft that was meant to be a shining part of his autobiographical kaleidoscope.

“The Coffee House of Lahore: A Memoir, 1942-57” was published in 2008 and Aziz, in the opening chapters, tells us about the genesis of his passion to document this memorable phase of our contemporary history.

“Whenever an intellectual, cultural and literary history of Lahore (or
the Punjab and Pakistan) is written, the diverse circles which met and
discoursed in the Coffee House will have to be described in detail and
the ever-widening waves of their influence recorded. As nothing has
been written so far on the subject and I don’t see anything in the
offing, I give below a list of the important persons who I can
recall.”

Quite diligently, Aziz sets forth to list two hundred and six names
that would include a wide array of thinkers, scholars, artists,
writers and even some CSPs who obviously changed their life course
despite the influence of their Coffee House days. For those who want
to know about Lahore and its not-so-old diversity, KK Aziz’s memoir is
a must-read. It is perhaps the only serious work on this important
institution. Aziz has rightly mentioned in his book that the names he
lists and the personae he describes in his biographical sketches aim
to achieve four objectives.

First, that such a remembrance proves the ‘age of talent’ as it
existed in Lahore. Second, a faithful picture of Lahore in the 1940s
and 1950s emerges from the text. Third, that it provides the cultural
historians of the future with a primary testament; and finally at a
personal level, it shows how Aziz the historian and thinker was
influenced by this exciting and vibrant milieu. During the early part
of the 20th century, Lahore emerged as perhaps “the most highly
cultured city of North India”, to quote Aziz. With a wide range of
educational and cultural institutions and a composite society
comprising all faiths and religions and political ideologies, the
Lahore of today is no longer what it once was.