LAHORE – Expo Centre has been the greatest magnet for book worms since April 7 with what seemed to be a never ending gallery of books and magazine stalls. From text and academic books to children’s stories and from comics to classics the place proved to be a fantasy land for those who cannot survive without reading.
Several publishers contributed to the fair by setting up their best collection of books. Though the fair was organized by Readings Book Store, the publishers and book stores were not restricted to Lahore. Liberty Books and Royal Book Company, along with members of the Kyber-Pukhtunkhwa Text Book Board flew to Lahore for the occasion.
While a few stalls were not visited by many, such as one that sold only religious material, others were replete with people who rummaged through books. The biggest stall was the one set up by Readings which hosted books on topics ranging from Arts and Humanities to Sports and Current Affairs. Liberty Books from Karachi and Oxford Publications followed Readings in the line of setting up the largest stall.
“Liberty Books is only Karachi based till now but we are thinking of opening a new outlet in Lahore as well,” said one of the company representatives at the stall. “We have gotten a positive response from the Lahore crowd”, he added. The claim of the representative seemed to have some weight considering the lack of space to roam around in the small tent which was divided into two: one side selling magazines, both local and imported, for half price and the other side selling books.
Sang-e-Meel Publications also had one of the largest stalls but did not receive as much audience as was expected. While some people did not stay for long, several others flitted in and out studying and searching for books of interest. Most of the people converged to the Urdu section for novels and short stories by Manto, Bano Qudsia, Ashfaq Ahmed and many other Pakistani writers.
Most of the youngsters were seen at the stall of Readings devouring shelf after shelf of books in all categories. “I am very happy that finally there is something I can go out to see,” says a university student Sana. “Because there are hardly many cultural activities in Lahore, some things are always welcome, like books”, she said.
Waqar, a college student, said it seemed that book readers were decreasing in number because of a growing number of internet sites. He said now people did not understand the feeling of holding an entire book in one’s hands and turning page after page to read the author’s thoughts and expressions. He said he loved opening a book and indulging in the aroma of its paper. He said it was so exciting to start a new book but he had rarely seen people this passionate about reading. “Book reading is like knowing people and seeking information about them”, he added.
In an attempt to make their children adopt the habit of reading, many parents brought them to the book fair. “Today’s children are all about video games and TV,” says a father of three. “They should understand the importance of reading books”, he said. School children ran excitedly everywhere clutching onto their new books racing to see what else they could buy.
Some Ishtiaq Ahmed novels had also been republished and were seen being sold for a suitable price. The book fair was a dream come true for many fans of the children’s mystery series writer; however they were not too many. The series was one of the most popular ones during the eighties and nineties but today not many children read authors like Ishtiaq Ahmed; infact not many even opt to read Urdu novels.
While so many people were happy about organization of a book fair, as a different kind of “entertainment”, many others had their reservations about feeling excited. “Books are too pricey these days and one has to think twice before buying any,” said Shahnaz. Umair, a student, said, “If you come all the way to Expo Centre to buy books, at least the discount should be more than what is being offered currently.” He said he had come all the way to find out that a Rs 415 book would only be reduced to Rs 400 whereas there was hardly any price change for a Rs 1300 book. “What is the use of a book fair, otherwise?” he questioned.
Others also complained about the price of books in general and said that fairs were organized only once in a while where they were disappointed by high prices. They said even in routine life, the books they wanted to buy from stores were too expensive to buy and they thought twice before buying them. “The books in the fair aren’t too different than what we see anyway in the shops,” said Hasan.
“But I am still glad that this fair was organized because we need to see the books laid out before us before we show interest in them. Expensive or not, if you want to read something of value, then you must get it, however I too think that the government should do something abut reducing the price of books for us, or at least build more libraries so that the reading culture is encouraged,” he added.
