Karachi, After Midnight: VOLUME 2 — COMPLETE EDITION
A gay man's online diary from Pakistan’s dial-up era.
This complete edition compiles all three parts of Volume Two: Becoming Gay, Tehzeeb-ul-Ikhlaq Chowk, and Flowers of Separation.
Volume 2, Part I begins at night. Shams drives through Clifton and Defence, racing through the city with friends and lingering at traffic signals a little too long. He writes of testosterone and instinct. Desire feels everywhere, uncontained: in chatrooms, in passing glances, and in strangers on motorcycles.
In Part II, Shams moves through rage, boredom, prayer, and flashes of dry humor. Ramadan brings hunger; politics brings noise. The office air grows heavy with gossip. Religious language slips in not as a sermon, but as habit, routine, even sarcasm.
In Part III, the year closes heavier. Illness, funerals, fatigue, and depression settle in. At one point, Shams stops blogging for weeks. Desire remains, but it carries greater risk. In one entry, he realizes he is parked in a red-light area, staring at men. When a man opens his car door and sits beside him, panic sets in. He imagines being recognized. He imagines his family finding out. The night shifts quickly from possibility to danger.
Yet throughout the year beauty still interrupts him: a stranger on the street, a room perfectly arranged, a spontaneous “good job” to Allah for making men beautiful. Fear and gratitude exist side by side as 2004 ends for Shams, without resolution.
Karachi After, Midnight is the record of a life: funny, searching, often heartbreaking, always real.
Shams Tabrizi (a pseudonym) is the author of Karachi, After Midnight.
Publisher: Khajistan Press
Author: Shams Tabrizi
Language: English
Type: Paperback
ISBN-13: 978-1-970281-07-1
Pages: 514
Item Weight: 1.58 lbs
Dimensions: 5 x 8 inches
You can order individual parts I-III of Volume 2 below:
Karachi, After Midnight: VOLUME 2—PART I: BECOMING GAY
Karachi, After Midnight: VOLUME 2—PART II: TEHZEEB-UL-IKHLAQ CHOWK
Karachi, After Midnight: VOLUME 2—PART III: FLOWERS OF SEPARATION
Also Available:
Karachi, After Midnight: VOLUME 1—PART I: COUNTING TRAFFIC
Karachi, After Midnight: VOLUME 1—PART II: STORM SEASON
Karachi, After Midnight: VOLUME 1—PART III: CITY ELECTRIC
Karachi, After Midnight: VOLUME 1—COMPLETE EDITION
Karachi, After Midnight Series
More from Khajistan Press
-
Kharabat Vol. 1
$95.00
Madrassa
-
Read more: Research on Khajistan: A Master’s Thesis
Research on Khajistan: A Master’s Thesis
We will be periodically sharing academic and independent research that engages with Khajistan. The first example is a master’s thesis titled Archiv...Read more -
Read more: Karachi, After Midnight Vol. 2 Launch at Printed Matter, NYC
Karachi, After Midnight Vol. 2 Launch at Printed Matter, NYC
March 5, 2026 6–8PM 231 11th Ave, NYC, Chelsea Join Printed Matter for the launch of the second volume in Khajistan Press’ new book series Kara...Read more -
Read more: Saad Khan × Mona Chalabi | Dazed MENA
Saad Khan × Mona Chalabi | Dazed MENA
Originally published in Dazed MENA, issue 02, on January 13, 2026. Text Selma Nouri Say as-salamu alaykum, New York! A SWANA revolution is up...Read more -
Read more: Khajistan Press Cancels Karachi Reading of Karachi After Midnight, Vol. 1
Khajistan Press Cancels Karachi Reading of Karachi After Midnight, Vol. 1
Karachi, Pakistan — Khajistan Press announces the cancellation of its scheduled reading of Karachi After Midnight, Vol. 1, which was set to take pl...Read more
Preservation Projects
-
Read more: Khajistan Seeking Preservation and Digitization Partners for Historic Erotic Film Posters
Khajistan Seeking Preservation and Digitization Partners for Historic Erotic Film Posters
New York, NY — Khajistan is launching a preservation and digitization initiative for its collection of 200 original Turkish erotic film posters, on...Read more -
Read more: Khajistan Seeks Preservation Partner for 202 U.S. Propaganda Leaflets Dropped on Japan
Khajistan Seeks Preservation Partner for 202 U.S. Propaganda Leaflets Dropped on Japan
New York, NY — Khajistan has completed the full digitization of 202 American war propaganda leaflets dropped on Japan in 1944 and 1945....Read more -
Read more: Urgent Call to Digitize Khajistan’s 1,000+ Urdu Children’s Books
Urgent Call to Digitize Khajistan’s 1,000+ Urdu Children’s Books
New York, NY — Khajistan has assembled a large and vulnerable collection of Urdu children’s books and magazines that rarely survive in libraries. T...Read more -
Read more: Emergency Preservation of Pakistan’s Early 2000s Sexploitation Cinema
Emergency Preservation of Pakistan’s Early 2000s Sexploitation Cinema
Khajistan has acquired a vulnerable set of original 35mm reels containing five films from Pakistan’s early 2000s sexploitation cinema. Made during...Read more
Rare Bookstore
-
1942 The Life of Franklin D. Roosevelt (Arabic) – United States
Price on Request -
5 Issues of Arts International Magazine (1971-72, Pakistan)
Price on Request
Toshakhana Special Collections
-
313 issues of Viewpoint Magazine (1984-89, English, Lahore)
Price on Request
