National Book Trust, India organized a lecture on Book Readings and their Influence on My Life by Dr A P J Abdul Kalam, former President of India, at 20th New Delhi World book Fair. A large number of people from all walks of life, especially young attended the lecture and were inspired towards reading habit. “I’m delighted to participate in 20th New Delhi World Book Fair. I’m happy to know that 1300 publishers from many countries are participating. I’m a book lover and happy to learn about your idea of promotion of books,” said Dr. Kalam. “I have come to World Book Fair to spend my time to select good books,” added Dr. Kalam.

He said “books are great, beautiful and intellectual companion to me”. When a human being goes through different states of mind like happiness and sorrow, Dr. Kalam said that “Books touches upon mind and balance the mind.” He said that books are everlasting, enriching companion for life-time as they guide us.

During the session, he mentioned a few of his favourite books and authors who have inspired him like Grand Pursuit, by Sylvia Nasar, Code Name God by Mani Bhaumik, Thirukural, poetic work of Saint Thiruvalluvar and works of Jalaluddin Rumi, a 13th century poet.

He opined that it does not matter who you are, if you have an ambition and determination for reading you can scale high in life. He urged people to have a library at home with around 20 books and out of which at least 10 books should be quality books for children. He said that home library is the greatest wealth than anything else as a library at home will inculcate good reading habit amongst children and will help them to succeed in life and fulfill their dreams.

Ms Vibha Puri Das, Secretary, Ministry of Human Resource Development welcomed Dr Kalam. Shri M A Sikandar, Director, NBT presented mementos to the guests. Later, Ms Vibha Puri Das released the CDs of the catalogues of NBT books in Hindi and English.

A workshop on Writing Film Appreciation was organized by NBT in association with National Film Archive of India, Pune at the Theme Pavilion. While inaugurating the workshop, Ms Vibha Puri Das, Secretary, Ministry of Human Resource Development, said that this is wonderful that NDWBF has taken the theme on cinema to encourage young people towards reading habit and was hopeful that through this workshop, they will get to know about different flavours of writing on films. Shri Anil Zankar, a media professional with 30 years of experience in film-making discussed about the art of Scriptwriting in Indian Context. He said that writing for film is specifically a special task. A script is not complete in itself unlike literature. It is always a draft which undergoes many changes as producers and directors of the film decide what will finally go in the film. Shri Anupam Siddhartha, SIMC, through an audio-video presentation discussed about various aspects on How to Read a Film.

A panel discussion on Urdu Language and Indian Cinema was organized at the Theme pavilion by the National Council for the Promotion of Urdu Language. The speakers in the discussion were Shri Farooq Sheikh, eminent film actor, Shri Sagar Sarhadi, noted film-writer and director, Shri Javed Siddiqui, noted screen writer and playwright, Shri Salim Arif, eminent theatre activist, Shri Basharat Ahmad Farooq, well-known critic and Prof. Aziz Siddiqi, well known writer and critic. The speakers discussed about the significance of Urdu as a language of communication for common people, print and electronic media. They also discussed about its role in enriching Indian Cinema by providing it with unique idiom, audio-visual form and grammar.

Under the section Literature that Walks, Talks and Sings, Marathi movie Maati Maay, directed by Ms Chitra Palekar was screened at the Theme Pavilion. The movie is based on a Bengali short story, Daayen, by the well-known writer Mahasweta Devi. The story is about a young mother who is trapped between her instincts and needs, and the compulsions of her ancestral duty as dictated by the social system.

To promote book-reading habit, several workshops and programmes are being organized by NBT at the Children’s Pavilion during 20th New Delhi World Book Fair. A large number of children from various schools and NGOs are being benefited from these activities.

A workshop on Cartoon Making was organized by Katha, in which renowned cartoonist Shri Ajit Menon created cartoons and asked children to draw cartoons of their choice. A storytelling session and a puppet-show based on a story Laddu Ka Swaad was organized by Pratham. Ms Manisha Choudhary, Editor, Pratham had a lively interaction with children. A book titled Kallu Ke Kissai, authored by Ms Subhadra Sen Gupta was also released. A session on ‘Tumble Books’ was also organized by Consortium Octect/DSBPA at the Children’s Pavilion.

A magic show by Shri Ashok Bhandari and popular melody songs by Music Band enthralled the audiences in the series of the cultural programme being organized at Lal Chowk in the evening.

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