Boman Irani launches ‘Not Like Most Young Girls’ in Mumbai

Jumbo Editorial Team

One of the most talented Bollywood actors, Boman Irani, launched the book titled ‘Not Like Most Young Girls’ in Mumbai, on February 21.

Speaking to the media on the occasion, the 52-year-old Irani rued that celebrities were not given enough credit for their efforts towards social causes despite the fact that they are always the first ones to lend a helping hand.

"I think you don`t give our celebrities enough credit. I think there are very few people in society who give their life and time to causes such as this. Do you find bankers or hoteliers sitting over here? They are not here. There are many celebrities who come for a good cause," he the Bollywood actor observed.

"Whenever there is a catastrophe or a disaster, the first people who come out and raise funds will be people from the film industry. So I think it’s a little unfair to knock my community down," he added.

Boman, who has done films like ‘Munnabhai MBBS’, ‘3 Idiots’ and ‘Well Done Abba’ with social messages, believed that it’s important to induce a generous dose of entertainment into a issue-based film to make it appealing to the audience.

"Entertainment is important otherwise no one will watch it. If there is a film like `3 Idiots`, the backbone of the film is the topic of education. But if we talk only about education without entertainment then no one will watch it," he reckoned.

"The audience is getting the message anyway. It is not possible to portray a book realistically in a film because people watch movies to entertain their families. If we can give a message combined with entertainment, it’s good but then it will never be the same as the book," he explained.

Boman`s next release will be ‘Housefull 2’ and he is also working on ‘Shirin Farhad Ki Nikal Padi’ with Farah Khan.

Karachi Literature Festival 2012 gets overwhelming media coverage

Jumbo Editorial Team

The third edition of the Karachi Literature Festival 2012, which was inaugurated with great fanfare at Hotel Carlton on February 11, concluded the following evening. It was organized by the Oxford University Press with the collaboration of the British Council.

The media attention the festival received was awesome with the daily national newspapers covering it very prominently indeed.

The two-day festival was organized with the objective of encouraging the Pakistani authors and attracting more people towards the literature believed to be the only solution to lead a turnaround. It also provided a platform for discussion over trends, values and thoughts to enlighten the minds of people.

The annual event, launched a couple of years ago, has been warmly welcomed by the people of Karachi who believe that it provided positive feel to them, describing it as a very enriching and enlightening experience for everyone who love to read. The festival provided an opportunity to people to touch base with books and resume their lost passion for reading.

One factor, however, that dampened the significance of the high-profile festival was its debatable approach which restricted it to elites only or those who could afford four-wheelers. Hopefully the organizers would expand plan it such a way in future to attract a common man as well are in love with literature and art.

Meanwhile a number of widely renowned and acclaimed writers and scholars including Shobhaa De, Asif Noorani, Asif Farrukhi, Hanif Kureshi, Kamila Shamsie, William Dalrymple, Mohsin Hamid, Mushahid Hussain Sayed, Naved Kirmani, Maleeha Lodhi, Ayesha Siddiqa, Intizar Hussain and Zahida Hina shared their thoughts.

In the various sessions, the writers and other dignitaries shed light on the importance of literature in life of nations. They termed the event as an opportunity for Pakistani youth to connect themselves with the world of literature.

A session of writers signifying women’s voices through their writing captivated quite a bunch of women, with Maniza Naqvi, Bina Shah, Nafisa Haji and Marilyn Wyatt sharing their experiences as writers and also readers, evocative through their own and other literary works.

Shobhaa De brings glamour to Karachi cultural scene

Jumbo Editorial Team

The third edition of the Karachi Literature Festival 2012, organized by the Oxford University Press with the collaboration of the British Council on February 11 and 12, came to life with the presence of the famous Indian writer-socialite Shobhaa De.

The 64-year-old Mumbai celebrity literally took Karachi by storm, having brought in a touch of glamour to the KLF 2012. She spoke about Indo-Pak relations and her literary career.

For a change, she was the only author at the festival, whose clothes, a wonderful sari, and not any of her 17 best-selling books were described during her introduction.

"Indian socialites are curious about how Pakistani women put their outfits together and the long lines of the kurtas. There is no comparison between Pakistani and Indian women when it comes to beauty – the Pakistanis are far more beautiful," De, reputed to be India's one of the top best-selling authors, observed.

"What you say on TV is live and will be there for a long time. So you have to live with the goof-up or factual error you make for the rest of your life," she emphasized.

To gel with the culture better, De also revealed that she was planning to attend a sangeet at a mehndi at a farmhouse to get a good look at Karachi society. She also expressed her desire to take a ride in a bus decorated with Pakistan's colourful truck art and shop for blue pottery to get a closer feel of Pakistan.

"Blogdosts. I am off to Karachi tomorrow. Am a little excited. A little nervous. The programme sounds fascinating. But to be at a session titled 'Superstar Author' without dying of embarrassment (secretly tickled!), will be a major feat!" De, of course, has got her priorities right,” De posted on her blog a day before she left for Karachi.

She had squeezed to make time to shop for "lawn", Pakistan's best known fabric, a day ahead of the festival and seemed quite focused on the next item on her shopping list: Multani blue pottery.

Book of Life unfolds touching tales of organ donation

Jumbo Editorial Team

Book of Life, which was travelling across Australia for the whole last year, was finally launched at the Camden Library in the Macarthur region of New South Wales on January 31.

Mayor Greg Warren launched the book which contains different stories from the different families who were completely touched by organ donation. Also, the stories have been included in the book in order to encourage family discussion about donations of organs.

A large number of people, who were influenced by the stories in the book, had arrived at the launch of the book. The book containing several stories now also comprised of a new story written by Debbie Roberts of Camden.

Debbie Roberts, a former Youth Solutions chief executive officer, has explained her daughter’s deed of organ donation. She informed the audience at the book launch that her daughter, Rebecca, died of a sudden heart attack at the age of 20 only as she had type-1 diabetes and hyperthyroidism. But, her generous deed of donation of her two kidneys and two corneas has brought a great sense of comfort to the family.

She added that they had received a letter too, from the father of two children, who received her two kidneys. Seeing his children happy that their dad could again play with them, they felt great pleasure, she told.

In addition, differed other inspirational stories from real life of people have been added to the book, which would do their best in teaching people that organ donation is a holy deed and Wisconsin is in great need of the same.

Camden Mayor Greg Warren has suggested a worthy slogan from the book, “Don’t take your organs to heaven, heaven knows we need them here”.

Jumbo cricket books presented to Shahid Afridi

Jumbo Editorial Team

Not many people might be aware of his full name, Sahibzada Mohammad Shahid Khan Afridi, but everybody in the cricket world knows about his style, charisma and flamboyance.

Shahid Afridi, who was the joint leading wicket-taker in the Cricket World Cup 2011, is a household name in the cricket playing countries all over the planet. The former Pakistan captain has a unique style of dominating the opponents.

He is rated as the most enterprising all-round cricketer of his era, having set the grounds to fire with sensational power hitting. His batting has not been consistent enough at times but his leg-spin bowling has made amends adequately to enhance his demand.

No wonder he has had little time to spend time at his residence in Karachi. He has the knack of being in the news even when not playing cricket. Although he tries to be accessible to the media it’s not always easy to get hold of him, in view of his preoccupations.

Ehsan Qureshi, Senior Sports Reporter of the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP), ‘caught’ him recently and presented him a copy of his last two cricket books, Fiasco and Crash of the Titans, brought out by Jumbo Publishing.

Shahid Afridi, having contributed foreword to Crash of the Titans, was appreciative of the high quality of both the books and he congratulated the author for having done such an outstanding work.

Most Beautiful Bookstores in the World

Jumbo Editorial Team

The reading habits have not been declining but the number of bookstores continues to go down with the focus shifting on E-books and Amazon slowly taking over the publishing world.

It has become a global trend now and the bookstores are closing the world over, including those countries where the book culture was booming.

“The bookstores closing left and right, things can sometimes seem a little grim for the brick and mortar booksellers of the world,” a noted columnist observed.

“After all, why would anyone leave the comfort of their couch to buy a book when with just a click of a button, they could have it delivered to their door?” it was questioned.

It has been argued that there still are bookstores so beautiful they’re worth getting out of the house (or the country) to visit whether you need a new hardcover or not.

“We can’t overestimate the importance of bookstores. They’re community centers, places to browse and discover, and monuments to literature all at once,” it’s felt.

One gets a pleasant feeling at going through list of the most beautiful bookstores in the world, from Belgium to Japan to Slovakia. There is a lot to gain by visiting these lovely bookstores which are deemed prettier than Strand or Powell’s.

A visit to these high quality bookstores is still worth the time spent. The technology is taking over but the art and the beauty have their own significance.

Galaxy of stars makes launch of Salahuddin Ahmed’s autobiography Sallu truly memorable

Jumbo Editorial Team

Salahuddin Ahmed, a former Test cricketer, having headed the national selection committee of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), has been one of the most popular figures in the country and a galaxy of stars was in attendance in the launch of his autobiography titled ‘Sallu’ at Hotel Pearl Continental, Karachi, on January 31.

The ceremony was conducted by the most famous playwright of the country, Anwar Maqsood, who has a style of his own. The list of speakers included batting great, Hanif Mohammad, enterprising all-rounder and former captain, Shahid Khan Afridi, another former captain, Rashid Latif, squash legend, Jahangir Khan, former hockey captain, Islahuddin Siddiqui, and former PCB chiefs, Arif Ali Khan Abbasi and Khalid Mahmood.

Salahuddin, nicknamed ‘Sallu’, may have played a handful of Test matches but he has made his mark as a selector. He has had a remarkably long run in what is generally understood to be a thankless job. He has remained associated with the selection committee at the national as well as the city level.

Not surprisingly, in his autobiography, he has spoken quite a bit about the so many challenges he has had to face in carrying out the duties of a selector over the years. He has enjoyed the reputation of possessing an eagle eye besides having the nerves to withstand the pressures of all kinds.

He has chosen to pen his autobiography in Urdu, punctuating it with the verses and pieces of literature that have been hallmark of his personality. He has dedicated the book to his parents, acknowledging their continued guidance to let him accomplish his cherished goals.

A soft-spoken person by nature, who rarely loses temper, Salahuddin has had excellent relations in the media in particular. He used to be the man the media professionals and all his other friends used to look to whenever they faced any problems or hardships regarding airlines matters anywhere in the world. It’s extraordinary how he squeezed seats which looked impossible to get otherwise.