Urdu translations of foreign books on all subjects, including philosophy and literature, have flooded books stalls in the city inciting interest and curiosity from all sections of society in the exotic ideas, thoughts, approaches and tales of life from far-off countries and places offered by the ‘translation versions’.
However, it was not good news for Urdu authors, as they have been overshadowed by translators and their publishing companies – so much so that the major publication houses of Lahore have joined the race to publish translations, in order to survive in the market.
Publishers, in a bid to halt the decline in the public’s reading habits, have unearthed the secret to incite interest in their trade again, by offering translations of a world previously inaccessible to the non-English reading populace.
This “change of trend” in the approach of readers and publishers was noticed especially during a three-day book fair held at the Lahore High Court, where over 7,000 people, including lawyers, came to buy the books on a 50 percent price discount. It was the first book exhibition ever held at LHC – hitherto, such book fairs had been held on the bars premises, and this was rare, as on the first day Chief Justice Ijaz Ahmed Chaudhry and other judges visited the exhibition.
On the last day of the exhibition Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker Rana Mashhood Ahmed Khan and American Consulate Culture Wing Head Katherine also visited the 14 books stalls and appreciated the wide range of books on display, covering disciplines from yoga, to novels, short stories, books on philosophy, psychology, and dictionaries, reference books. Each of the 14 stall made sales of over Rs 10,000.
Anarkali’s M Hussain Book Centre representative told Pakistan Today that though the public was less interested in reading books, many people had purchased books due to the 50 percent discount being offered, and if continued, such exhibitions would boost the reading habits of the masses.
Law Foundation Chairman Azam Bhatti said the book fair had been organised with special permission of the chief justice. He said over the past 5 years, he had organised fove book fair at the Lahore Bar Association (LBA) and said he would continue to organise such exhibitions. He said no law book was displayed on the stalls, rather “general books” were displayed to attract all types of people. He admitted that a trend of Urdu translations of foreign books was on the rise, and added that it did not matter which language the books were in, as long as they disseminated knowledge, which was basic aim.
