Common city dwellers like me and a million others dont care much about the location where the fair is being held. May it be the Maidan or the Milan Mela Ground. A book fair is a book fair. Period.You authorities can have your blame tennis tournaments on where to erect the book shelves. But, we are only interested in the books in those shelves, nothing else.
My last visit prior to this one was in the year 2009. It was a lot dustier then. This year I had my second visit and, as far as I remember, I didn't sneeze once even though I am highly allergic to dust. Bishan, Jayita, Moumita and Nayana were also there to make the afternoon more fun filled.
Honestly speaking, I am sometimes (most of the times actually) more attracted to (and judgmental about) a book by its cover. But I simply cannot deny the thoughts and efforts by the cover designer for those two pages even though I have hundreds of pages between them to appreciate the author.
Even though I haven't read too many books but whatever I have, I can totally agree that judging a book by its cover can be a huge mistake.
The "Theme Nation" this year was Italy. It had a huge hallway constructed especially for it and had its renowned authors as inaugurators and guests. There were gallerias from Turkey, United States, Vietnam, Bangladesh, China also
The time being a winter holiday afternoon, a casual coffee in an open cafeteria seems to be the most perfect way to relax. And if you are in one of those book fairs which is held in the city of Kolkata, a little opinion exchange from someone for whom you are as alien as he is to you, the coffee can be rich in many ways.
Living in a city where people still largely depend on public transportation, can make you quite an expert in surviving a crowd. The book fair is not like a walk in the painting exhibition. There are chances that the book is to reader ratio in a stall can reach one is to one.
Thankfully the atmosphere of the book fair is still not like a garb-and-run discount sale. But seeing such crowds in book stalls (where discount is only 10% and most of the books remain unsold), fills me with mixed feelings.
Is it a cultural show-off or just a habit coming down as legacy or people are genuinely interested. God knows. But, if you ask me why I was there... I would say "I was there just for the hell of that". This time I didn't buy a single book (although, in my all previous visits I did buy something with cover and pages), but I did get a plate of fish cutlet and a cup full of ice-cream. Thanks to Nayana and the fact that she was born on the very date.
To stand in one corner and look at the crowd (and photograph them and think what to write in the blog) is a different thing than being in the crowd only to be in it for its very purpose is a different thing. For the former one, the book fair is only another excuse to spend a day, but for the later one the event is to spend the day with no other excuse.
I am sure who have come to this fair (more than once), will agree that its worth a next visit. Those who have been here only once, and don't plan for the second visit, no pressure on them. Those who haven't been here even once, I would suggest them to try it out. It wont matter if you are alone... you will definitely find something worth getting lost in.
Till next time,
Bye :)
