In this conversation, the novelist Mohsin Hamid recalled a childhood spent moving between Lahore and California, losing his native Urdu as a young boy before relearning it as a third language upon his return to Pakistan. This early dislocation, combined with learning disabilities, forced him to slow down and pay careful attention to words and form. Pankaj Mishra observed how Hamid’s background was enriched by a large extended family in Lahore, which acted as a protective buffer during the political repression of the 1980s.
That sense of security shifted, Hamid observed, after the 9/11 attacks, a turning point that forced him to realize how quickly power can profile and isolate individuals. Anticipating a world shaped by division, Hamid and Mishra reflected on the failure of global capitalism, but they saw hope in literature’s ability to preserve human values until better times return.
