KARACHI: Technical problems took the main seat among the book launches, storytelling sessions, theatrical performances, talks and workshops on the inaugural day of the Children`s Literature Festival at the Arts Council of Pakistan Karachi here on Friday.

However, it goes to the credit of artist and writer Fauzia Minallah and archaeologist and historian Dr Asma Ibrahim to keep the children engrossed in the subjects under discussion while the computers went out of order.

Fauzia Minallah`s digital story Amai, the Bird of Light experienced hiccups when it wouldn`t move beyond the third slide and help had to be called which took its time to reach there.

`Amai`, is a name we call our mothers by in Balochistan,` Fauzia then started telling the children.

`But in the book Amai is a bird that takes you on a trip of the world,` she informed them before quizzing them on what they remembered from the three slides they were able to see.

The multimedia system failed again during another very interesting session with Dr Asma Ibrahim where she had brought two documentaries one on the making of coins and the other on the Indus Valley Civilisation. Dr Ibrahim then encouraged the children to ask her questions about the artefacts and skeletons excavated from Moenjodaro and Harappa.

The children wanted to know so many things such as how archaeologists found out various things about the people of the past like what they ate and what they did, etc. They also wondered who discovered the ruins and how the Indus Valley Civilisation got destroyed.

They were informed that one can tell a lot about the people`s diet from excavated bones, dried plants and plant seeds and also from the condition of their teeth.About the man who discovered it all, Dr Ibrahim said that he was a soldier who had defected from the British army but he did a criminal thing by stealing from the site.

And she explained that there was no destruction of the civilisation as such. `People used to live on the river banks in those days and gradually moved away from there,` she pointed out.

Earlier, the inauguration of the festival was attended by thousands of schoolchildren.

Speaking on the occasion, additional chief secretary of education of Sindh Dr Fazlullah Pechuho said that the attendance of children proved that people were interested in education.

Arts Council president Ahmed Shah said that the Taliban wanted to take them back to the time of caves.

Mashhood Rizvi, director of the Karachi Youth Initiative, said most learning took place outside classrooms at places such as festivals.

`Therefore I request Dr Pechuhoto take this festival to every district possible.

A guest, Shanta Dixit of the Rato Bangla Foundation in Nepal, said, `Dear children, I hope you don`t always have to come to such festivals to be introduced to great books.

Meanwhile, the book launches saw journalist Zubeida Mustafa introducing author Sara Sitwat and her book Chalo Farm Chalo.

`For writing the book she has referred to her childhood memories of living on a farm in Chittagong,` Ms Mustafa said before handing over the microphone to the author.

`My sister has many pet cats with all kinds of strange habits and I asked her one day to write a story about them. She turned to me and asked `why don`t you?` So I started writing a story in English about animals. But it was not coming out like I wanted it to come out so my sister suggested that I try doing it in Urdu.` said Sara Sitwat.

Next came Asma SikandarKhan`s book A Magical Tale about Pakistan Wizardry, Laughter and Adventure. `The writer has used magic in her story to take you back in time,` said Imrana Maqsood, who introduced the book. `I know reading about Partition can be boring. So in the book these three children, Fatima, Ayesha and Hamza, are taken back in time by their grandparents who know magic. They see how Pakistan came into existence and realise that this country is a gift which we deserved after working hard for it,` Asma Sikandar pointed out.

The storytelling sessions included a dramatic reading of an extremely funny short story about a giant who wanted to become a baker but business at his bakery just wouldn`t pick up as he always baked gigantic breads, biscuits, cakes and pastries that the people were too afraid to taste. That`s what Molka Deo Sahab Bakery Walay by Musharraf Ali Faroogi is all about.