The novel  Blue Dust  by Aysha Salman was officially launched at  Kuch Khaas  here on Saturday. The launch featured talk by poet and writer, Harris Khalique, writer, Dr. Iffat Idris and author of the novel, Ms Ayesha Salman.
A large number of readers and book lovers attended the launch and asked several questions related to the novel, which Aysha Salman was more than happy to answer.
It is pertinent to mention here that Ayesha Salman, who was born in the UK and grew up in the Middle East, did Philosophy at the University of East Anglia, Norwich UK after which she moved to Pakistan where she is now settled. She is a writer and poet and  Blue Dust  is her first novel.
Blue Dust is an emotional, philosophical and cultural journey that maps the relationships, dreams, hopes and fears of three generations of a family in Pakistan and the Middle East. The central character is a loving girl who struggles largely with insecurities in her relationships and the world she is born into. Through the story of this family, the author also explored broad issues in Pakistan relevant to class and religious and social distinctions.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Iffat Idris, commended the work of Ayesha Salman and spoke on Ayesha s personal struggle, trials and tribulations that culminated in the writing of Blue Dust. After an emotional personal account, she asked author to read few excerpts from the novel.
Ayesha Salman explained the message and motive behind her novel and spoke on issues, which she tried to address in Blue Dust such as sexual abuse, sexual repression, class and religious discrimination. She read few excerpts from her novel and went on to commend the new crop of Pakistani writers such as Mohsin Hamid, HM Naqvi and Shehryar Fazli, who she said were all making a difference by talking about pivotal social issues in Pakistan. She also mentioned filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid Chinnoy who has made Pakistan proud. She thanked people for much appreciation and also offered special thank to her father, Zulfiqar Ali, who she said was a great inspiration for the novel.
Poet Harris Khalique said, the novel ‘Blue Dust’ was woven with a passion to understand the complexity of existence, adding that the prose is highly imaginative and the expression is humane and sensitive .  He said, Ayesha Salman’s writing is rooted in her personal experience with keen observation of the life attached to her not just around her.  She writes as if she is a protagonist and a part of the subject matter herself. It is a sharp inner voice that can be heard through her writing,” he went on to add.