Abstract
Contemporary Urdu literature’s premier traveloguer, Mustansar Hussain Tararcreates a nerve shattering narrative of the demise of Communism in Lenin for Sale, which is an English translation of Ay Ghazaal-i-Shab by Durdana Soomro.This novel is a deeply emotional account of Pakistanis who in the flower of their youth left their native soil and moved to the Communist heaven. They immersed themselves in the flora and fauna of their adopted land. They built families, raised children and continued their holy struggle to achieve a workers’ paradise. Youthful idealism kept homesicknessin check.Then, calamity strikes. The shrine collapses and emotionally ruins its worshippers. They are left rootless. The indomitable forces of history have pulled the rug out from under their feet. Would they survive the fall? How are they going to spend these hopeless moments? They are now strangers in their ancestral home as well as in their ideological abode. A lifetime of optimism vanishes.