The children had a field day today at the New Delhi World Book Fair 2020 with lots of interactive, interesting and informative activities and programmes being held for them throughout the day.
The day at the Children’s Pavilion was kick-started by the event organized by DELNET along with NBT, on ‘Igniting Young Children’s Minds through Libraries’ and an on-the-spot quiz competition ‘Stories of Bapu’ based upon Mahatma Gandhi’s autobiography. Shri H.K. Kaul, DELNET Director and the Network Manager, Sangeeta Kaul interacted with children.
A workshop was organized on Meri Dus Ungliyan, which included fun activities like Screen Painting, Paper Meshes and Mask marking by Apna Konaa Creative Foundation. The children were happily engaged in the series of creative activities throughout the day.
New Delhi Rights Table
The annual business forum, the New Delhi Rights Table was organized at the fair by the National Book Trust, India, where over 40 publishers from India and abroad participated in the event. The New Delhi Rights Table is a unique business forum where publishers meet and exchange their business interests like selling and buying of book rights of their respective titles.
Theme Pavilion
National Book Trust, India in association with Punjabi Akademi, Delhi organized a street play on Mahatma Gandhi at the Theme Pavilion. Performed by Sarthak Theatre, Patiala; the scriptwriter of the play was Shri Balram and directors of the play were Dr Lakha Lahiri and Dr Inderjit Kaur. The artists included Pushpendra Sohi, Jashnapreet, Arvinder kaur, Malkeet Singh, Vipul Ahuja, Shubham, Devender Preet Singh, Riddam, Gurpreet Singh Golu and Shahbaz. The play depicted the philosophy and teachings of Gandhiji.
Shri Shivraj Singh Chauhan, Ex-Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, visited the Theme Pavilion – Gandhi: Writers’ Writer – based on Gandhiji’s life, philosophy and teachings, which also houses 500 titles from 100 publishers in different Indian languages and in English. He appreciated NBT’s efforts in portraying the messages of Mahatma Gandhi in such a creative manner as depicted in the aesthetically and beautifully designed Theme Pavilion.
Shri Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, President of Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), also visited the book fair.
Author’s Corners / Seminars
A seminar was organized on ‘Vagyanik tatha Takniki Shabdavali par Charcha’, by the Commission for Scientific and Technical Technology (CSTT), Govt. of India on the importance of mother tongue and its learning. The speakers included Dr. Hari Singh Pal; Dr. Om Vikash; Dr. Jagdev Sharma; and Prof. P. C. Tandon.
A discussion on the book Stree Nirmiti authored by Ms Sujata was organized by Samayik Prakashan at Lekhak Manch. The speakers on this occasion included Hemlata Maheshwar, Sudha Singh, Ujjwal Bhattacharya and Madan Kashyap. The speakers discussed about different aspects of the book and discussed in detail the status of women in present and past, and the challenges they face in the society as well in their families.
International Events Corner
A reading session was held at the International Events Corner with Anna Sophie and Stine Askov, novelists from Denmark. Dr. Saleh Bin Daifullah Al Umari from Islamic University, Madinah, Saudi Arabia, made a presentation on ‘Partnership with International Educational Institutions’. Prof. Z. A. Farooqi, Academic Advisor, Cultural Attaché, Saudi Arabia moderated the session. In addition, a Presentation on ‘Role of Language and Literature in Strengthening Cultural Ties between India and the Arab World’ by Prof. Z A Farooqi, Academic Advisor, Cultural Attaché Office, Saudi Arabia was also organised by the Embassy of Saudi Arabia.
Cultural Evening
The day ended on a musical note with mesmerizing cultural performances by Sahitya Kala Parishad and a play on Mahatma Gandhi by Kala Mandali performers.
