KARACHI, March 14: With blooming flowers all around, skillfully arranged to celebrate Jashn-i-Baharan at the Pakistan Arts Council, one enters the lawn where a book fair is being held, launched informally on the World Book Day, on Thursday.
Simultaneously, a flower show also opened at the Arts Council.
Old and new books, almost in an equal number, attract book lovers, though not many perhaps due to lack of good publicity. The firsthand books are new, though not that new, and are available on discount. Poetry collections of Ahmed Faraz and Obaidullah Aleem, Alakh Nagri, a voluminous novel by Mumtaz Mufti are some attractive new volumes. Manto who, for most publishers, has become an industry, so there is Manto Kahaniyan, Mantorama, Manto Numa and also Manto Baqiat, almost the same text, being churned out under different titles. Ismat Kay Sau Afsaney also catches the eye. In old books Aab-i-Hayat, Kulliyat-i-Jami, some forgotten editions of Iqbal’s Zaboor-i-Ajam and Payam-i-Mashriq, and also copies of old periodicals such as Fanoon and Naqoosh are available to avid readers.
The book fair, organized by the Library Committee of the Arts Council, will continue on Friday, and may be extended for another day, depending on response from the people, Saifur Rahman Grami, Secretary of the Arts Council, said.
The Jashn-i-Baharan is being organized by the library and horticultural committee of the Arts Council.
Thousands of flower pots, placed tastefully on the veranda of the Arts Council, drew many flower admirers who not only scanned the blossoms on display but also compared notes about the art of growing flowers at home with the sellers.
“I am thrilled today because I learnt a lot from these flower sellers today about horticulture,” said a girl, a student of Class VII, adding: “I have bought seeds and pots, and I will try growing these flowers at home.”
In addition to fresh flowers, fake ones were also on display. “People often complain that they cannot place flowers at home because in airconditioned rooms flower invariably wither no matter what a person does to nurture them. While there are some plants that can grow very easily without sunlight, people put fake flowers in drawing rooms because they do not even have to water them,” an experienced flower seller said.
There was a stall of clay and plastic pots which were also in great demand. “I have bought some pots, and I plan to place them on a corner table in my drawing room,” said a woman who was having a hard time trying to prevent six multi-coloured pots from falling off her hands.
In the garden next to the veranda at least 14 book stalls displayed old books as book lovers moved from one stall to another.
“There are not as many customers here as there are at the Sunday bazaar, but it is because people are not aware of the fact of the book fair at the Arts Council,” a bookseller explained.
In the centre of the garden a book stall sold new computer books only. “These days people take a great deal of interest in computer books on HTML, Java Script, Windows and the Internet,” a bookseller said.
A book lover said he had bought a rare book, a travelogue by Mohammed Husain Azad, an account of his travels in Central Asia in the 19th century. —Hasan Abidi
