Fun for all ages at the book fair at Expo Centre

Karachi International Book Fair 2012 at the Expo Centre kicks off, little children kept busy with fun activities.

KARACHI:

You don’t need to have a vast vocabulary to enjoy a book fair. At the first day of the Karachi International Book Fair 2012, it was little children - who would have barely known how to spell their own names - who were perhaps the ones who had the most fun.

The Pakistan Publishers’ and Book Sellers’ Association organised the five-day event at the Expo Centre which kicked off on Thursday. Though people of all ages attended the fair on the opening day, the lion’s share of the crowd comprised eager little children who were kept busy by a number of fun-filled activities. A lounge had been set up at the fair in which the children were kept busy with paintings.

But there was plenty for the grown-ups to look forward to as well. Karachi University’s Shah Abdul Latif Chair inaugurated the Shah jo Risalo ‘Ganj’ at the fair. Literary heavyweights, including Mehtab Akbar Rashdi, Prof. Salim Mughal and Dr Nawaz Ali Shoq, hobnobbed with one another as fans tried to wedge themselves in between and shower them with adulation.

One literary enthusiast, Saeed Memon, said that he waits for this event every year. “I attend all days of the fair and browse the books on display. I wish I could buy them all.” The three halls were packed with more 300 stalls offering books of all shapes and sizes at low prices.

The event is set to continue till December 10.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 7^th, 2012.