ثنا خان

An Impressive Book-Launching Ceremony
By Farhana Rizvi
Pictures by Naushad Sarwar

Well-known writer Tasneem Sana Khan’s book-launching ceremony on July 15 2006 at the Village Restaurant in Anaheim, California, was a highly successful event as it brought together a large number of famous writers and poets as well as the leading lights of the community.
Urdu Link’s well known columnist Mr. Qamar Ali Abbasi and Radio and TV’s famous artist Nilofer Abbasi came especially from New York to attend the event. Mr. Abdul Rahman Siddiqui flew from Maryland and Shanaz Imtiaz from Arizona to be present on the occasion.
Though parking lots in the US cities are spacious, such was the number of enthusiastic attendees who turned up well in advance of the ceremony that the space fell short and many individuals did not know where to park their cars! Tickets were sold out and there were no seats available in the hall after 8:30 PM. It was a ‘house-full’ event.

Above: Pictures taken on the occasion of the launching of Tasneem Sana Khan’s book “Asslaam A lekum America.” The first picture in the top row shows the author with Mr. Qamar Ali Abbasi. Both Tasneem Khan and Qamar Ali Abbasi are regular columnists of Urdu Link. Speakers on the occasion are seen in the first two rows. Several groups of guests who turned up and contributed to the success of the book-launching ceremony are also seen above.

The program was conducted by Nilofer Abbasi and she gave a good account of herself. The speakers who shared their views about Tasneem’s book ‘Asslaam A lekum America’ included Qamar Ali Abbasi, Zafar Abbas, Zia Khan, Irfan Murtaza, Anwar Khawaja, Mrs. Asifa Nishat and Mrs Shanaz Imtiaz. According to Qamar Ali Abbasi, Sana Khan is the first young woman from the US and Europe who has written an interesting book based on her columns.
Tasneem Sana remarked in her speech, “My readers are my strength. That is why I am keeping this up for the last 15 years. I receive several emails every week which are my reward. “ She also read her famous column “Hum duaa likhtay rahay”
Tasneem’s son Temoor also talked about her mother in his speech while Natasha Khan, her daughter, presented bouquets of flowers to the guests.
At the book-signing table, over 100 books were sold like hot cakes, an impressive number by any count. Mr. and Mrs. Naseem Ahmed paid $100 for a copy, in excess of the price listed on the book.
A mushaira was held after the book-launching ceremony. It was hosted by Dr Feroz Alam. Mr. Abdul Rahman Siddiqui and Shanaz Imtiaz were the chief guests. The program was sponsored by TNW Realtors (tnwrealts.com).