I MA English
Reg No
1901712006040
Paper: European
Fiction and Drama
A Book Fair
Books communicate
knowledge and ideas. They portray culture and its diversity.
A book has a lot
of advantages over other forms of communications in media in terms of its
physical attractiveness, relative cost of it, accessibility, and the overall
general convenience.
In detail it can be carried around, read comfortably. It’s
about putting it up to the public domain, which in return attracts a lot of
writers who want to reach out and be recognized for their ideas. English language
has an unparalleled number of books that are sold thereof.
I never liked
books, especially ones that were given to me. It was like something was always expected
in return. A feeling of deprived connection with the book. Like you never read
for yourself, but for someone or something else. But when you pick up a book,
it's quite different.
The only
limitations it poses is your interest. This day also was different, I was
expected to go to the book fair but it never felt like something forced. As
they say ‘it isn’t work when you love doing it’.
Books, always
intrigued me ever since I chose to major in Literature. I did prefer books apart
from the ones assigned to me. Second hand book shops were the bling in my life.
I loved to go to Starmark and other shops, not gonna deny that but the other
feels so different.
Book fairs are a
feast of books. This book fair in particular, is held every year in Chennai and
this year was the 43rd one. Thousands visit everyday trying to find books that
they want.
To feast on so
many books is something incredible. Fairs being enormous, they were sure to
have new books at discounted prices. It was held at the YMCA ground in
Nandanam. It started from the 9th and went on till the 21st.
There was a rich
display of books on almost all subjects for students from schools and colleges,
pretty much for everybody. 13 days, 2 weeks, which is enough for people around
the city to admire and buy books that they wanted. Actually quite enough for
even people who lived away from the city. It was the day before the book fair
was to end, the 20th of Jan, that’s when I went. We started from college after
lunch.
Took the train to
Guindy and boarded the metro from there. The metro was more enjoyable than the
train, to be honest, but was a bit expensive. The fares are to come down once
more people start using it frequently. It took us around an hour and half to
reach the place. I had brought my Dad’s camera to take pictures at the book
fair, we did use it quite well.
We were a group
of four. Three of us had assignments on the visit and the other just tagged along.
It was quite the walk to get to the venue, and when we arrived we were
awestruck by the number of stalls that were put up outside the book fair. It
was still inside the fair, just without the books. Made a decision not to spend
money on food before we looked at the books. Better go hungry with books,
rather full with none. It was delightful to walk among classic childhood declicies.
We went in
through the closest available entrance, there were quite a few of them around.
It was the 5th row. Well, actually we didn’t know that there were seven rows in
total. All we did see was that the rows were long, very long indeed. At the
entrance, the people in charge let us in without passes, for we had our college
ID with us. From the time we went in till we came out, we were pumped.
We jumped from
shop to shop like monkeys on trees. We weren’t prepared for this, we didn’t
have much time in our hands to look at everything. It was already late and the
day was about to end. We took about an hour and half to just skim through one row,
glancing at stuff that we needed. We weren't sure about what we wanted.
There were publishers
from all around, local, national and international. Each stall was hosted by
their own shop owners and or by their publishing houses. I think there was a
huge crowd on all the days it was held, especially during the evenings.
The side that we
went in through was vastly filled with Tamil books. Since my young days I
wasn’t in good terms with my young tongue. I always got below average marks in
that respected subject. I gave up on it and chose German in my Higher Secondary
and French in College. I don’t mean to demean any language, but just that I
wasn't comfortable with a few. With English it was so unique, I started to
think in it comfortably.
Each stall was
good in its own way, and a lot were delightful for me to look at. There were a
lot of stalls with a great number of children's books and walking through them
made me want to run around in circles. I remember this one name ‘Scholastic’ a
reputed publishing company. They had book fairs at my school every year (MCC
Campus School).
Seeing their name
on a stall brought me much joy. I wanted to read all the books that were in
that stall. I don't think people shouldn’t pretty much care about the age prescribed
in the books, I don’t. I’m more into teen-fiction. It has cool stuff that
actually takes you away from reality. Gives you enough to ponder about.
They weren’t
limited just to literature, that being the important part, they were to entertain
and educate people. They displayed subject oriented books, books on performing
arts, science and technology, books on literature and language, books on
cooking and even on medicine too.
To make them even
more attractive, they have attractive discounts that passersby can’t resist. I
believe that the fair was a huge success although it isn’t to be compared to
its excellence, as it aroused the interest of many individuals to read. The
price of the books were quite reasonable and affordable, there were books
ranging from extremely low prices to expensive stuff too. Everybody got
something to buy, they just had to figure out what it was.
My friend who
tagged along for fun ended up buying a lot more books than the other three of
us. We, on the other hand, went around trying to find something interesting and
something nice, probably both to write about in the assignment. We went around
as much as we could, even then only saw half of the third row.
I bought a book
from the second shelf in the picture above. I didn’t buy it on that day, but
the next day. I was pretty low on cash and asked them if they’d be there the
next day too, to make sure I can come back for it again. It’s called ‘The
Literature Book’, from DK publishing house.
The other books
in this series are also great. If I had like 15,000 I’d have bought each and
every one in that series. I used that book to prepare the presentation for
Prof. Aruna in the Romantic Age. It was on ‘the techniques novels in the
Romantic Age’. Probably would be getting another book of a different subject
from DK Publishing.
They have done a
great job in summing up all the necessary stuff, clear and concise is what I’d
name them. It costs a thousand for a book, and at times you get it for less. I
got it for eight hundred after a friendly negotiation. I’m sure that one can
find it around in a second hand shop for less, but it is totally rare to find
one of that.
I happened to
meet a college friend of mine. It was quite a surprise, I was trying to take a
good picture and he was in it. Was posing for it. He found me actually.
Panbarasan hopes to become an IAS grad. He had come along with his Sister. She
also shares hope of becoming one. They had come to buy some books for their
exam.
Then there’s this
gem. This book was written in the year 1961 and is now made into a series. It’s
about Captain John Yossarian, who is a World War II bombardier and is stationed
on the island of Pianosa. He is an individualist who seeks to protect his own
life by fleeing to the hospital, since a “catch-22” in the Air Force
regulations prevents him from being grounded for illness or obtaining a leave.
I love to watch
series and movies, it is a different kind of art form. In the case of writing a
book, be it either a novel or a play or anything else, it’s the work of one person
and in the case of a film it’s made up of combined effort. That is what makes
art art, it’s uniqueness. It’s, ability to differentiate from other things that
surround us in life, that which gives it meaning.
There is such a
quantity of good and beautiful books for children, good in the high quality of their
content, beautiful in their illustrations and generic. It would seem that no
parent or teacher should be at a loss to meet a youngster’s reading needs.
We at times don’t
know where or how to begin to find the right books for the right children or
how we may stimulate kids. Comics have been the cornerstone of entertainment
and education. This is to encourage the love that children have for good
literature.
Book fairs are
wonderful fun, and we know of no better way to stimulate children and parents
alike in good reading for “the coming generation” than a fair. In this age of
computers and television, of video games and special effect movies, a book fair
may sound rather dull.
Books are the
medium for people who want to pursue their own interests and explore a subject
in depth. The book fair is the best way to acquaint the public with the range and
quality of books available. Books have been around for hundreds of years longer
and store longer and store the accumulated wisdom and knowledge of humanity.
Most importantly books provide detail and depth of understanding.
We hoped to get
back as early as we could, and started at around 7. It was a day worth spent, we
had enjoyed it as much as we could. Before we started home we made it a point
to try something from the food court, and we did. Although the food wasn’t
great we enjoyed it.
