S for satire LONG after they have made the journey from the writer's mind to the printed word, classics continue to remain open to interpretation, helping readers find solace in them to make sense of the world.

When actor-lyricist Gopal Datt suggested renowned Pakistani humorist Ibn-e-Insha's Urdu ki Aakhri Kitaab to Danish Husain for an adaptation, memories of a work laced with satire came flooding back. "Though Ibn-e-Insha had written about the socio-political realities of Pakistan in the '60s and '70s in the form of a textbook, the work could very well be modified and contextualised in the current times," says Husain, theatre director and poet, who adapted the text to Qissa Urdu ki Aakhri Kitaab ka, a two-actor farcical banter, based on the format of the popular Pakistani talk show, Loose Talk.