REGIONAL SIDELIGHTS

    India is a land of fairs and festivals and the two are so deeply inter-twined that it is almost impossible to think of one without the other. All festivals, be that on the occasion of puja celebration of a particular deity, a sacred dip on the confluence of rivers or even while observing the rituals of our hoary past, animistic or vedic, there is a festival. And as people gather there is a fair. That is the Indian tradition. But nowhere, other than Kolkata and West Bengal and sometimes in Delhi, books, the gateway to knowledge, entertainment and cultural upbringing draw such crowds for days together. The 27th Kolkata Book Fair that opened on January 29, 2002 to continue for 10 festive days, is a pointer in that direction.

    With television making inroads in most urban households, it is quite heartening to find people of all ages queuing up to buy books or have a feel of them in the Book Fair. People in West Bengal and Kolkata in particular love to attend book fairs.

    With Rabindranath Tagore freed from the "shackles" of copyright, the publishers here expect a boom in the sale of his books. Other classical and modern Bengali writers continue to enjoy their intimate relationship with the readers. The Collected works of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, Bibhuti Bhusan Bandopadhyay and Satyajit Ray, the darling of the young and old alike will be in full demand. So will be the epics, the Upanisads and other books related to religion and philosophy.

    With parents craving for English medium education for their wards the sales of English books on different subjects have increased manifold during the last two decades. Books on science and technology and those on quiz and general knowledge also have a brisk sale. Sometimes the big publishers have hundreds of intending buyers lining up in front of their pavilions.

    The Kolkata Book Fair spread over a vast open space on the Maidan had its ups and downs. Some years back there were two book fairs – one organized by the Publishers’ Body and the other by the Government of West Bengal. The mutual rivalry has now ended and the confused book-lovers heaved a sigh of relief. A couple of years back the Book Fair was partially ravaged by a devastating fire taking a toll of thousands of books, turning some publishers near bankrupt and causing death of a middle-aged book lover. Now the fair is better organized and the dust that generally asphyxiate stall-hoppers has been well taken care of by the drizzles caused by a low atmospheric pressure somewhere in the Bay of Bengal.

    The railway authorities have come up with additional trains for the safe passage of book lovers. They have also set up special counters where tickets for the Book Fair would be available. This is no doubt a unique gesture in recognition of the people’s love for books. The Kolkata Book Fair will also witness the release of a number of books and cultural functions. With a few crores of rupees changing hands, it has not come as a surprise to see banks opening their temporary counters at the mela ground.