I M. A English
Language And Literature
Paper: European
Drama
VISIT TO A BOOK FAIR
Studying Arts was
never my choice, and so I had to take to Arts as part of my career option only
out of sheer compulsion, since the Sciences had always been my interest.
I love drawing. It
took me a whole semester to figure out what was happening around me. I really
hated when I heard names of different genres, history of English literature. I
wanted to quit because I did not understand anything. I studied in an English
Medium school but never spoke English.
I have never visited
libraries in all my life, nor did I know that such a thing as a library ever
existed at all. All these made me feel insecure and worthless. After my UG
second semester, however, things began to change. I started developing a liking
for Literature, which in turn made me to appreciate everything around me. I
adored it more than science. My originality was appreciated which made me to
feel confident about myself.
Visiting the Book Fair
was one of the happiest moments in my life. My parents haven’t liked that fact
that i spend money on books, as they have always felt that it’s just a waste of
money. I had a tough time to convince my father. Finally, he agreed because it
was a part of my assignment. I visited the book fair on the 20 January, 2020.
My mother had always loved to read books. However, after marriage she wasn't
able to read much and hence I really wanted to take my mother to the book fair
and get her some books to rekindle her passion for Literature.
I came from college by
2:00 pm, had my lunch, took my vehicle till West Tambaram bus stand, and parked
it near a church. My mother took permission from her office and reached the bus
stand by 3:00 pm. We both took a bus to Menambakkam. My father is working in
Airport and we thought that he would accompany us from Menambakkam to Nandanam.
Since I’ve never had
the opportunity to travel anywhere, I was very much excited to see new places
while on the move. We reached Menambakkam and three of us took a metro to
Nandanam. My Father was explaining about the significance of every place that
we came across.
We reached Nandanam
and had to walk a little distance, to reach the place where the Book fair
happened.
The Fair was very
crowded. There were also roadside shacks in which people were selling books,
and the police officers were asking them to vacate the place. Finally we
reached YMCA College! The entire stretch of the road was filled with dust,
tract papers and empty bottles, and I could barely see the road.
There were a lot of
medicinal plants around the campus. My mother was so excited to see it, and she
plucked a few leaves to apply for my skin allergy. And there were students
playing football, basketball and tennis. Some of them were exhausted and
returning back to their respective places.
Multiple stalls were
placed on both the sides of the entrance. Shops having toys for kids, snacks
for everyone, gadgets and phone cases.
People were selling
medicinal plants. Junk foods and foods stalls were also available. Although I
was looking all around wanting to eat everything, I had to control my urge and
kept moving further on.
There was some
communist meeting happening, and many elderly people were seated there and
listening to the speech. While my father sat in the meeting, my mother and I
went inside the book fair.
In the entrance, I saw
a big board advertising different publishers and distributors. I glanced over a
Sura’s exam guides advertising board which reminded me of my school days where
I used to study Sura’s guide for my board exams. And there was Officers’ IAS
academy books, where a lot of IAS aspirants were buying books.
Then at last, I came
across a shop filled with literature books, and I was head over heels looking
at all the books. I was jumping and telling my mother that I know Lacan, Jung,
Russell and Derrida et al! There were a lot of books by great philosophers and
poets, History related books, books on Modern Painting, Books for NET
aspirants, etc. I felt like I wanted to buy everything in that stall. I took a
few pictures of the books that I couldn’t get,
so that later on, I could save money and buy it. I bought few books
mentioned in the following –
Formalist Criticism
and Reader-Response Theory by Todd F Davis and Kenneth Womack, Subjectivity By
Ruth Robbins,
Chaucer to Shakespeare
by Sun Hee Kim Gertz,
Literary Feminism by
Ruth Robbins and
Interpreting Poetry
and Evaluating Criticism by Bijay Kumar Das.
The books were priced
around Rs. 2210/- in the Atlantic Publishers
and Distributors stall. I got to check out one of the works of the Professor of
Loyola College who gave a lecture On Theory, months back.
I visited all the
stalls in the Fair, and each stall resembled a microcosm of the world in
itself. My friends were also there, but I couldn’t reach out to them because of
the huge crowd; however, I spoke to them over a call, and heard that they had
left the place quite early by six in the evening.
I roamed all around
the Fair, lost my way, got confused a lot, and ended up visiting the same
stalls thrice. But it was like the Journey to the Mysterious Island. I got to
see a stall by British council, glanced at a few books over there. Stalls were
put up not only to buy but also to exchange. For exchanging there was a stall
by DCKAP, then a stall by Aachi Masala Company having books on the success
story of the founder A. D Padma Singh Isaac.
In addition, I also
checked out books on Tamil Literature. My mother was awestruck! She started to
look at all the books and even started reading through a few pages. After some
time, both of us were feeling quite exhausted and our legs started to pain
badly. Despite the fact, we were excited to look around everything.
Most of the books were
similar in all the stalls but I was happy even after looking at them again and
again. Media people were asking the opinion of the common people. An Elderly
Malayali Uncle was sharing his opinion. The crowd was enthusiastic, and it was
truly inspiring to witness a lot of kids, pregnant ladies, specially abled
people who had gathered at the Fair to get books books for themselves.
People from other
colleges, students from other departments in our college, people from other states
and even a few foreigners were also enjoying around. I also saw the book, Ikigai by
Yukari Mitsuhashi. It was a delight to my eyes to see for myself all the books
that I had heard about in my lecture classes and to read them.
Time flew us by, and
it felt like I had just come in, since each stall was so amazing to watch. They
had displayed children's books, subject-oriented books, books on language and
literature, books on Performing Arts, Science and technology, books on Software
and Hardware, banking and Finance, Management and accounting, books on
Medicines, cooking, health and
religion-related books.
In addition, every
publisher had their own way of attracting the public: some were offering
discounts while some others were giving free tickets to MGM if customers
purchased books for a certain amount.
There were
school-going kids who had landed at the Fair, straight from their schools.
I really loved the
experience, I never want to leave the place, but had to because it was almost 8
in the night. Then, we visited the Keezhadi monument, in which the life style
of the ancient Tamils, and a variety of aspects relating to our culture were
also exhibited. There was a beautiful picture of Thiruvalluvar and a picture of
Pongal in a pot wonderfully crafted on Sand.
I got to see bones of
humped bull, Terracotta vessels, Terracotta pipes, pots of different kinds,
jewellery, jewellery used during that time, copper utensils, Tamil Brahmi inscribed pot sherds. People were explaining the
history of our Culture, and it was really amazing to see the advanced water
supply system which our ancestors used. I even bought a book which details the
history further.
It was 8:30 pm, and my
mother was hungry. My parents had food in a restaurant there. I had some ice
cream and some snacks. I also happened to meet a few of my cousins there, and
had a talk with them. And there was also blood donation bank.
It was 9 pm, when we
finally departed. People started leaving, the parking area was crowded, there
was a lot of traffic, people were
standing in the entrance giving application forms for different academies. We
took a share-auto to the bus stand, and got a bus to West Tambaram. Luckily the
bus was not heavily crowded.
People were exhausted
in the bus, some people had finished their work, while a few people were
meddling with their phones and watching you tube videos, while some others were
fighting with their lovers via phone call. And I was just smiling thinking of
the nice things that happened.
My father got down in
Menambakkam to his office. My mother and I reached Tambaram station by which
time my father too had come there. All three of us went home around 11:00 pm. I
had my dinner and then read through a few pages of the books that I bought,
after which I had a good nap.
This was my first time
visiting a book fair, and it really made me to re-think my thoughts, and
appreciate everything. The entire ambience motivated me to learn more and read
more, and to gain knowledge. It was good to be surrounded by positive
people with the same motto. I spent a
good deal of my leisure, reading books. People were not disappointed because
they got what they wanted and that too at a cheaper rate than what the ordinary
bookstalls usually offered.
Besides the commercial
advantages, they also provided several benefits to the general public. The
greatest merit of book fairs is that it widens people’s reading habits and love
for books, leading to an improvement in literacy and public education.
The commercial benefit
of a book fair is also significant. It promotes large-scale sale of books
within a short time, with minimum expenditure. Generally, book fairs exhibit
hundreds of books on different topics and therefore, one can get the book of
one’s choice at a short time. Another notable merit of book fairs is that
during such an occasion we can go through the content of the books quite
leisurely while that is not possible, if we think of purchasing a book from a
bookstall.
Book fairs also
provide the opportunity to see and go through the latest publications of
different authors. Nowadays, book fairs organise various readings, recitations
and other such competitions. People also get an opportunity to meet well-known
writers as publishers try to arrange for that.
Book fairs play a
vital role in publishing. Both professional and consumer book fairs are
important for the book industry. They bring together publishers, agents,
distributors, retailers and book lovers together on a single platform. Media
shifts its attention to book industry when the book fairs are on. Authors get a
chance to meet their fans and foster stronger relationships with people and
publishers.
However, in this
digital age, where virtual presence is everywhere, are book fairs still
important? Most of the book fair across the world are shrinking in size but
they are still flourishing, if not in terms of size, then in terms of the
quality of visitors to the fair and the business deals sealed at the venue.
There is exchange of rights; few book fairs have designated rights centre at
the fair. New books are signed between authors and publishers.
What’s more? In the
age where each book is battling for screen space, book fairs give a chance to
publishers to showcase their frontlist as well as generate interest about their
backlist. Readers can browse through books and buy books of their choice, which
they might not pick up online.
Besides, book fairs
are now educational and cultural events. There are seminars, panel discussions,
presentations, author meet-ups, etc to keep the exhibitors and visitors engaged
and to spread knowledge. Then, there are also various cultural activities at
the book fairs, which is another attraction for the visitors.
Book fairs also help
in inculcating reading habit among people of all age groups. Many schools bring
their students to book fair, which helps in creating interest among children to
pick up books of their choice. Of course, there are bargain sales to look out
for. But, genuine book lovers can find books of their choice at such events. It
is actually a paradise for book lovers.
Benefits of A Book Fair
Book fairs are great
for getting new fans and reconnecting with old ones.
Book fairs give the
chance to spread word of one's book and make a good impression with big time
publishing companies.
Publicity is one of
the most important parts of book campaigns. The Book fair will give one the
publicity and it helps to put one's book on the map.
It will allow one to
contribute to a young fan’s love for reading.
By mixing with fellow
writers one can create lasting friendships that can help you in the future.
One have a better
chance of selling your book.
One can enhance
their book campaign network by making
friends with fellow writers.
As effective as book
fairs are there are some setbacks. The main setback is the fact that events can
be very unpredictable. They can be a success and a failure. It really depends
on the number of people who attend the event.
“BOOKS ARE THE CHIEF
CARRIERS OF CIVILIZATION”
C. E. M Joad
