About 12 Lakh Booklovers from Across the Country Visit the Fair
The last day of the New Delhi World Book Fair 2018 saw a huge rush of young and old alike in an excited mode to buy as many books of their choice as possible before the huge book festival of this year came to an end on 14 January 2018.
The book fair this year was a huge success with about 12 lakh book lovers having visited the fair. The theme pavilion Vanaspatayah shanti based on Environment and Climate Change attached the visitors, with each one taking a memory back with them of the seminars/talks on how to do our bit for the environment conservation to make this Earth a better place for the generations to come.
Ruskin Bond’s presence at Author’s Corner in an interactive session ‘Till the Clouds Roll by: The Beginning Again’ (organized by Penguin Random House) mesmerized visitors, especially the young book lovers. He was surrounded by curious young faces, enthralled and fascinated by his words and his encouraging advice to the budding writers, as he shared his experience and journey from an armature to a successful writer of this age. He said, “I started from an age where there were no mediums of reading and writing like those available to all of you nowadays but I have always cherished those memories of writing my first book.”
A panel discussion on the role of media was organsied by Kushabhau Thakre Patrakarita Avam Jansanchar Vishwavidyalaya at the Sahitya Manch. The speakers on the occasion were: Shri Baldeo Bhai Sharma, Chairman, NBT; Dr M S Parmar, Shri N K Singh, Dr Sachidanand Joshi, Shri K G Suresh, Dr Ashish Joshi and Shri Anand Pande. Besides, a discussion on ‘Sindhi Literature’ was organised by National Council for Promotion of Sindhi Language and a book release function was organised by Narayani Sahitya Akademi at the Fair.
Noted authors including Seema Mustafa, CP Surendran, Jerry Pinto and Michael Creighton were also present at Conversations Authors’ Corners. The session was organised by the publisher Speaking Tiger. On this occasion, three books titled Azadi’s Daughter, New Delhi Love Songs and Naishapur and Babylon were released. At Lekhak Manch, Without Man, authored by Geeta Pandit was released in which Shri Prem Janmejay, Shri Vivek Mishra among other. The release function was organised by Shalabh Prakashan.
In the European pavilion, the book That’s More Like the Heroes’ Spring authored by Mayuresh Kumar was released. On this occasion, Mr Sukanto Kumar, former professor of NIT, Mr Carlos Varona, Director of Instituto Cervantes, New Delhi among others were present. The speakers discussed about the book which revolves around the freedom struggle in India and Spain. The author read out some excerpts from the book.
A panel discussion on ‘Maithili language and culture’ was organised by the Centre for Studies of Traditions and Systems at the Theme Pavilion. The speakers on the occasion were: Prof. Pradeep Kant Chaudhary; Dr Devnath Pathak; Baua Devi, noted Madhubani artist and Padam Shri, Prof. Manindra Thakur among others. The speakers discussed about the Maithili language, literature and culture. The speakers said that Maithili culture and tradition is very close to nature where birds, animals and trees are revered. Citing examples of several festivals which are celebrated across Bihar like Chhat Puja, Ram Puja, Madhu Shravani, the speakers said that all the festivals are incomplete without the elements of nature.
The Children’s Pavilion also saw a number of programmes being organised for and by children. A large number of children from various schools and NGOs from across Delhi/NCR participated in these programmes. Shri Harinder Patanga, Punjabi folk singer through his beautiful songs encouraged children to save environment. Later, a Kathak dance performance by the children of Navratan Foundation was also organised.
In order to make the Fair more entertaining and attractive, cultural events were organized every evening at Hamsdhwani Theater where classical and folk dancers and singers enthralled the visitors.
