THE Chinese have a proverb — a book is a house of gold. A society that promotes a book-reading culture is a progressive and enlightened one. The main objective of the National Book Foundation is to promote book-reading.

The NBF Quetta organised its first-ever mega book fair in the city’s literary history. Fifty-five national and international publishers participated in this event. The NBF tried to highlight the new potential dimensions of the Balochi people and their culture.

The seven-day fair revealed many surprising aspects about Balochistan and its people. People visited the book fair in large numbers. This is ample proof that people still love books, and book reading is still prevalent in this society. Some publishers said they were taken aback when many a customer asked about books that they had not expected.

The NBF arranged reading sessions at which local writers read portions of their works for the audience. The participants were pleasantly surprised to learn that Baloch writers like Munir Baloch have authored 100 books, whereas Mansoor Bukhari has written 90 books and Professor Sial Kakar 25 books.

Raheel Bugti

NBF Regional Incharge

Quetta

Published in Dawn, September 6th, 2015

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