Books for the rich

Reading in Pakistan is viewed as luxury or hobby, not something that is necessary part of intellectual development

“Can you please point me to where the Urdu books are?” I asked the shopkeeper as I entered a decent sized bookstore in a relatively well-to-do neighborhood in Lahore. He pointed me to the far corner of the bookstore. I walked in the direction of that particular corner, passing through rows of fiction and non-fiction books in English, most of which had nothing to do with Pakistan. In the rare instance that there was a book about Pakistan, the topic was predictable — politics and international security. The authors were also familiar — the same people who often appeared on the international circuit with grand predictions about the future and broad strokes about the past; the same people who did not know any of the local languages of the country that they were making predictions about. I browsed a couple of books and found that the prices for some of them were outrageous. A couple of familiar titles were more expensive in Pakistan (when converted into US dollars) than they were in the US. The bookstore, and the books, were there only for the rich.

In the far corner reserved for Urdu books, another worker greeted me. I asked him if this small shelf was all they had in the bookstore. He smiled and said in a tongue-in-cheek manner that I should be grateful for this. This corner may not last long. Acknowledging the grim reality, I asked him about a few novels and books I had read about recently which had been published by major Urdu publishers in the country. He had none of them. He told me politely, “Sir, you would not find Urdu books here.” Surprised, I asked him, “If I am unable to find Urdu books at a Pakistani bookstore, where am I supposed to find them?” We both knew the answer. Trying to see if any of the other branches of this particular bookstore chain carried those books, the bookseller went to the computer and searched the database but got no hits. There was not much left to say to him.

The situation at the lone bookstore at Lahore airport was no different. In the past, their selection of Urdu books was decent. Not any more. The bookseller was honest and candid. The demand for Urdu books has plummeted. The situation at Karachi airport’s international departure was perhaps most telling. That bookstore there has shut down completely.

The multi-dimensional crisis about books, publishing, reading and bookstores in Pakistan is fairly well known among those who care. But just because it is known does not mean that it is not depressing. Yet, just when I thought that this has to be the bottom of the crisis, I learned that there are plenty of new surprises waiting in store. All hitting those who are not rich or well-connected.

Reading in Pakistan is viewed as a luxury or a hobby, not something that is a necessary part of intellectual development. There has been one exception to this rule: textbooks. Despite flaws and errors, textbooks historically have been the only books most students would ever engage with. But even that relationship seems to be on shaky ground now. A few days ago, it was reported that thanks to a bizarre crisis at the Sindh textbook board, the books for students in public schools will not be available for months. As a result, the entire school year for hundreds of thousands of children will be shifted by several months (starting in August instead of April). The implications of this shift are extraordinary. The public system students will be out of sync with the rest of the country in terms of exams, admissions and ability to join colleges and universities. It is also unclear if the crisis would not repeat in the future. The impact, of course, will be on those who cannot afford to send their children to expensive private schools.

Apparently at the core of the crisis are accusations of corruption, turf wars, allegations and counter-allegations. But the real crisis is that of apathy. Reading, after all, is a luxury. Who cares if the poor have no access to books?

Published in The Express Tribune, January 30^th, 2024.

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