The
cool gust of breeze welcome me as I step out of Hall 12 of Pragati Maidan. I
check my visitor pass to ensure that I have finished criss-crossing all the pavilions
that hosted the 2000+ stalls, domestic and foreign. Later tonight the annual New
Delhi World Book Fair 2015 (NDWBF) will wind down after splashing a nine day
feast for the eager legion of NCR book worms. A day spent amidst the choicest
of literary collections from around the world is indeed a book worm’s delight,
which is why book fairs are thriving across cities around the world, year after
year. Coming back to the cool gust of wind, it’s definitely one of the better
times of the year here in New Delhi to step out of your home and enjoy the NDWBF
with winter fading away and the fire breathing Delhi summer yet to gallop down
the Aravalli plains.
Organized
by National Book Trust, NDWBF showcased over 2000 stalls including 30 foreign
ones. Singapore was the guest country while South Korea was the focus country.
The book fair theme highlighted the culture, history and locales of India’s
North East and also the literature coming out of that region. Author’s Corner,
an interactive platform, were held across five halls where over 500 writers
discussed literature and exchanged ideas with readers over more than 300
sessions. This book fair traditionally has been drawing overwhelming footfall,
which is a reflection of the city’s growing image as an education hub. Apart
from students, young kids and an emerging educated class are increasingly
flocking the book fair.
The
Theme Pavilion was named “Suryodaya: Emerging voices from Northeast India”. Inside
were paintings, books and photographs, intelligently selected to take the
visitor closer to what is now known in tourism parlance as Paradise Unexplored.
Adjacent to it was the Foreign Pavilion which was drawing large number of
visitors. There was particular interest among visitors to click photographs
with the Indonesian ladies in their traditional attire. Lovers of Urdu found
themselves spoilt for choice among several stalls from Pakistani cities like
Karachi and Lahore. Asian nations had a major presence, with large stalls by
Korea and Singapore and a very popular Saudi Arabian stall too. However I came
out of the pavilion regretting not knowing Spanish as Instituto Cervantes had
put some mouth watering books on Bunuel and Picasso on display.
The
Indian languages pavilion predominantly comprised of Hindi literature stalls,
although National Book Trust had displayed its huge collection of translated
works in almost all Indian languages. The General and Trade pavilion was by far
the largest and most crowded. Young kids could be seen coaxing their parents
into buying that “one more book”, which is always a heartening sight. Curiously
enough, there were several rather flashy stalls displaying literatures about
their religious Gurus. And yes, that included the flamboyant Guru Ram Rahim
Singh too. No wonder, we as a country, spend more money in the name of religion
than anyone else. Zealous followers turned volunteers were pushing their
version of godliness to unassuming visitors; and at very competitive prices!
With exam season round the
corner, books on competitive exams were flying off the shelves. But special
mention has to be made of the discounted book stalls. You could buy a Jhumpa
Lahiri or an Ian Mcewan title for 100 rupees, and the readers knew it only too
well. Even several reputed publishers joined the bandwagon and were offering
attractive discounts on otherwise pricey books. At an age when information is
just a search engine away from you, it requires lot of smart play on the part
of the publishers too stay relevant. Best sellers and award winning writers
aside, the trick is in spotting, writing and publishing information which a
reader would prefer in book form than in a web page; and the men in the
business seem to know it pretty well. After all what are successful book fairs
like NDWBF but proofs that book worms still like to curl up inside the comfort
of their paperbacks.
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