Every winter, a gala event called Book Fair is held in Kolkata, India. A sprawling ground is turned into a fair with makeshift stalls housing thousands and thousands of books from across the globe. A special theme is selected each time, and this year it was France. A specific area is donated in the ground, where works of literature and art from that particular region are displayed, and authors and eminent personalities from the same place are felicitated. Along with this, publishers and booksellers from all over the world come with their treasure to showcase and sell them.
The ambience around the fair is electrifying. It is a perfect milieu of book lovers - a common thread that binds each visitor. The people from every sphere of the society come in large number to buy books, browse through them, and generally to feel the overall atmosphere. They wait in long queues to enter into their favourite stall, without ever losing patience – such is the magic of this print medium.
There are books of varied taste and subjects. Literary works, scientific works, historical writings, biographies; books on art, culture, electronics, computers, business, law, cookery, fashion and beauty – you name it and it is there. Hence, a very cerebral crowd , comprising of writers, poets, intellectuals, students, teachers, scientists, entrepreneurs, all gather here on this common platform. They throng the stalls, sit on the ground, interact with each other and share their views. From these thought-provoking discussions, germ of a new idea for books, poetries or cinemas evolve.
Sometimes, different groups of young generation bring along their guitars and drums and hum songs on their own creation. As the evenings set in, the bright lights are put on and the voices and songs intermingle with one another; the entire ground gets transported to a mystic world.
The minds soak in this intoxicating and enriching experience, the impression of which is everlasting. But as every good thing must come to an end, with a heavy heart and a lump in the throat, one bids farewell to this very special event called Book Fair, which is actually a celebration of true spirit.
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Rupa Sen Ghosh of Perfect Editing Solutions (www.perfectediting.com) is the author of the above article.