It’s been an exhausting decade in Pakistan, with a long streak of terrorism affecting every section of society. All metropolises, including Lahore, have been targets of terrorist attacks from the left, right and centre, but the people have stayed resilient. The symbol of one such example of resilience is the Lahore International Book Fair, which is arranged by publishers and booksellers without the involvement of the government. Its 31st edition was held for five days this month at Expo Centre Lahore.
I have been visiting the book fair for more than a decade now; from the time I found my first but not very remunerative jobs, first as a language and literature teacher and then as a small-time journalist in a big media group that was a very bad paymaster. The book fair was an annual attraction. Even though I had an almost non-existent budget, I could always find something I liked — perhaps an old book now out of print or a rare book that you couldn’t get in a regular shop. What’s the use of going to a book fair for books that you can find any day from any shop? Anyway, most Urdu publishers in Pakistan offer discounts at their outlets throughout the year.
What used to always fascinate me most in the Lahore Book Fair were the stalls of old books and those of Indian publishers. Over the years, I have found ancient Arabic and Indian poetry collections, books on Dali and Van Gogh, and also the weighty tomes of the legendary Naqoosh in these stalls .Naqoosh used to be the most famous Urdu literary journal at one time. Its first issue appeared in 1948 and it continued publishing until the early 80s, and it is still all the rage with Urdu literature readers. It has published long numbers on almost every great classic writer of Urdu, including Manto, Ghalib and Mir, and on genres of literature like ghazal and afsana. It also had a Lahore number once.
During the years, as all public gatherings were discouraged and we began to avoid places that had a chance of crowds gathering because any significant public event could become a target for terrorists, I continued to visit Lahore Book Fair. And almost every time I would leave the venue with a heavy heart, knowing I was leaving behind books I knew I would not find again.
But that did not happen this year. The fair came as usual, but it had neither many stalls of my choice nor the kinds of books I always looked for. In fact, the process of slide began a couple of years ago. Last year, I remember I could not find my favourite vendor, the one who used to keep the old Urdu books and the special numbers of Naqoosh. Another stall that used to stock the best books of English literature was also missing. But the fair last year still held a fair number of tempting stalls. This year, even those were missing. I couldn’t find them even though I walked around the fair an extra time.
Does this signify something? A hint at reading trends perhaps? Maybe the old and rare books have a regular clientèle, people who don’t come to book fairs. Maybe the crowds that come here now are casual readers who buy bestseller novels and trending writers, and these have in turn become the main attractions for stall owners.
Strangely, there is a constant increase year after year in the number of religious book stalls, despite the fact that they have the most expensive books. I am not sure what to say about this strange development but they do say such printers and publishers are thriving in Lahore’s Urdu bazaar.
The best part of visiting Lahore Book Fair is to find so many people thronging it in a country that does not have great literacy statistics. This fills me with pride. And children’s book stalls have the most visitors, with mothers leading eager young readers by the hand. As I see the rush of people thronging the venue, I feel certain once more that the printed book is here to stay in Pakistan, despite the onslaught of digitised literature and online reading. And terrorist attacks.
The writer is a journalist from Lahore, who is interested in culture, literature and human rights.
