May and June are the worst months to visit Pakistan: temperatures in Lahore can go up to 120°F, and I still remember the melting tar on the road, which virtually doubled the time it took to bike home from school. I had been invited, however, to give the Eqbal Ahmed Memorial Lectures in Lahore, Islamabad and Karachi. Ahmed - whose dream of setting up a serious postgraduate university in Pakistan remains unfulfilled - died in May 1999.

LRB 19 June 2003 | PDF Download