On my visit to the US this month, I had the privilege of meeting Dr Adil Akhtar, a leading oncologist cum dedicated artist in Michigan, who is soon to visit to his hometown Karachi after three years to exhibit his work.

Last time, he brought with him huge paintings on religious themes, but on this occasion, he is displaying more than 50 drawings in ink, pencil and charcoal on paper.

The choice of colours, or shall I say the absence of colours, is in keeping with a rather morbid theme. He portrays the grim realities, mainly the disparities and inequalities that he had seen in Pakistan where he grew up; the title of his upcoming exhibition E-31 harks back to those days.

Why E-31, I wondered?

That was the number of the humble two-room house on the University of Karachi campus, where he spent his formative years. While his two elder sisters can recall better days, Adil simply cannot.

One of the sketches that will be on display in Karachi this month. —Photo by author

He was only two and a half years old when his father, a government officer, passed away. His mother was barely 21 and had studied up to grade eight but she took up the challenge by sewing to make ends meet, at the same improving her educational qualifications.

She was determined to live on her own, though her brother-in-law, a professor in the department of political science at the university, had opened his doors to his late brother’s family.

Adil Akhtar and his family were somehow accommodated in the lowest category of housing – E type of houses, ranking fifth from A to E. The number was 31, hence E-31. Their neighbours were the families of peons and sweepers. The categorisation of housing made him conscious of inequalities pervading in the society.

It was a nagging feeling which strengthened as he moved ahead in life. He matriculated and then after a couple of years in college earned admission in the prestigious Dow Medical College in Karachi from where he ultimately graduated.

The 1961-born Adil Akhtar completed his house job in 1987 and somehow managed to make it to the US to study medicine the