Srinagar, Mar 20:  Housed in ground floor of historic building at Residency Road here, a rectangular hub has become favourite destination for bookworms, scribes and students.
 Popularly known as Khan News Agency, it was launched some 30 years back by Ghulam Muhammad in a stall form outside Shakti Sweets and later shifted to the building at Residency Road.
 Much has changed after the stall was shifted to the building after demolition drive by SMC years back, Khan News Agency has focussed on books, magazines and competitive journals.
 Reasoning it out, Hilal Ahmad, the proprietor and son of Late Ghulam Muhammad, it was after people asked for specific books and magazines that he brought books and competitive material catering to the needs of book lovers as well as aspirants.
 “I have seen it all happening in Kashmir as for last 30 years I am in this field and here at hub of city, where events unfold fast and students as well as scribes come to me for books and magazines. It is keeping in view the requirements of the customers that I incorporated material,” says Hilal.
 Apart from placing range of magazines and books, Hilal’s shop provides newshounds a spot to interact and scrap clues to the events.
 Despite loosing prime spot of housing newspapers from the main road to ground rectangular room in the building, the shop continues to attract customers searching for favourite books and magazines.
 Hilal’s passion to bring in latest novels both fiction and non-fiction is proving dividends
 After taking to streets in Kashmir for six months last year, the Valley youth are now thronging bookstores.
 “Earlier we had books on Kashmir history which were gathering dust on the shelves. Even those are being purchased now,” Hilal said. “It’s only after six months of recent agitation we are experiencing rush of young readers who are interested in Kashmir history.”
 The bookstore owner said Kashmiri authors Basharat Peer’s Curfewed Night and Mirza Waheed’s The Collaborator and Siddhartha Gigoo’s Gardern of Solitude are favourites of the book lovers while Chitralekha Zutshi’s Languages of Belonging and Mridu Rai’s Hindu Rulers Muslim Subjects are also being sought.
 “Magazines featuring articles on Kashmir are also selling significantly,” said Muazaam Muhammad Bhat, a student of Kashmir University.
 He said the youth were keenly looking to read the material on Kashmir.
 Recently, Hilal ordered whole range of books for his shop and students have been  responding positively to the products.
 The books include-Kashmiris Fight for Freedom by M Y Saraf,  Shiv Khera’s You can win, God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy, Gabriel Garcia Marquez series, George Orwell, Edward W Said Orientalism and Cultural Imperialism, Kite Runner by Khalid Hosseni and The Monk who sold his Ferrari by Robin Sharma and many other classics as well.

Lastupdate on : Sun, 20 Mar 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sun, 20 Mar 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Mon, 21 Mar 2011 00:00:00 IST