Celebrating National Book Day

    - Posted on: April 25, 2013 | Post your comment here Comments

    Google Translation: اُردو | 中文

    Celebrating National Book Day

    Islamabad, once upon a time, the quiet capital of Pakistan was the book haven of the country. Nearly every market hosted an old bookstore where every weekend the residents of this city would find solace, pleasure and escape from their real world. Many of these old bookstores are now shut, most of them shifted to the world of pirated DVDs

    National Book Day, a three-day event organized by the National Book Foundation at the Pak-China Friendship Center aiming to revive the reading culture in an age of television and internet. A multitude of stalls from the government and private sector showcased an eclectic and rich selection of books for toddlers, children and adults in various different languages. Parents, children, students scanned through the collection of new, old and rare book.

    The event wasn’t just reminiscent of the age of books, but hope that maybe in the future every child in Pakistan will grow up owning a Bang-e-Dara with the words of Iqbal on their lips and the world of Haafiz, Tolstoy, Neruda, Manto and other literary giants part of their solace, pleasure and escape.