By Hina Kiyani
ISLAMABAD: Another of Islamabad’s cherished institutions is preparing to fade into history. On 30 June, Durrani & Company—the beloved stationery and schoolbook store nestled in F-6’s Super Market—will quietly lower its shutters for the last time, drawing to a close a remarkable chapter that began in May 1975.
For fifty years, this unassuming shop has been far more than a place to buy pens and paper. It has been a landmark of learning, a sanctuary for students, a haunt for artists, and a quiet companion to the capital’s growing intellectual life. Generations of schoolchildren began their academic journeys here, their first textbooks, satchels, and geometry boxes bearing the quiet stamp of Durrani & Company. For many, the school year truly began with a visit to this trusted shop.
The store also catered to the stationery needs of government offices, diplomatic missions, corporate houses, banks, and commercial entities. Journalists, writers, and editors, too, found in it a dependable supplier of their tools of trade—fountain pens, notepads, typewriter ribbons, and reams of paper.
Long before large bookstores and art suppliers made their way to Islamabad, Durrani & Company was a treasure trove for the city’s artists. Stalwarts like Sadequain, Gulgee, and Iqbal Mehdi bought their brushes, colours, and canvases here. In those early years of the capital—when choices were few and resources scarce—this shop quietly filled a vital cultural gap.
The man behind it, Nadeem Durrani, had never intended to become a shopkeeper. Life, however, had other plans. When his father was abruptly dismissed from service on political grounds, a young Nadeem—then pursuing an LLB at Punjab University after graduating from Government College Lahore—was forced to abandon his studies and seek a means of survival. With no business background and no mentor to guide him, he set up shop out of necessity. What followed was a story of grit, resilience, and quiet dignity.
Over the decades, he built not just a business, but a name synonymous with integrity, service, and trust. The store became a familiar stop for generations of Islamabad’s residents—from first-time school-goers to seasoned bureaucrats, from struggling artists to accomplished professionals.
As the doors of Durrani & Company close, it is not just a shop we are losing, but a piece of Islamabad’s soul. Its departure marks the end of an era—one that was shaped by human connection, personalised service, and an understated but enduring commitment to the city.
To walk past the shop now is to feel the weight of time. The shelves may soon be empty, but the memories will remain. And somewhere in the quiet of Super Market, the echo of a city growing up—book by book, brushstroke by brushstroke—will still linger.
Farewell, Durrani & Company. You served us well.
