With over 600 stalls and attracting over 2 to 3 lakh visitors every day, the 47th Kolkata International Book Fair at Boi Mela Prangan in Salt Lake organised by the Publishers & Booksellers Guild, proved its great success this year too. The last Sunday of this fair recorded a quite larger crowd than expected. Aided by the additional East-West Metro and local train services, the rush increased as the day progressed.

Chandril Bhattacharya, the celebrated Bengali essayist, lyricist and poet said about the throng: “Any kind of fair welcomes people and the same goes with this one. This book fair welcomes every type of person, whether it be a bookworm or a book chatter. We can’t segregate the bibliophiles with the others having interest in some other domain. Also absolutely do not support this burning topic of crowds gathering here only for food (except the bibliophiles). A person can find enthusiasm in both books and food.

A fish fry and a book perfectly blend with each other.” “It is true that College Street may sell a book for a much lower price than here, but what holds this crowd together is that this fair features books and magazines showcased on shelves which helps visitors browse. College street will obviously not provide such a beneficial property. Although we now have the option of ebooks and kindles, we still have the tendency to feel and smell the book by placing it in our hands,” he said. Munir Ahmed of The Oxford Bookstore places the same perspective as that of Chandril.

“ We know that Kindle was not very successful here in India, hence this tendency to buy tangible products despite their cost is still there in people. Even demand for books became far greater after the pandemic period”. Depanjan Roy, a student from Durgapur who visited the book fair says: “This is the second year of me visiting here.

It is really sad to see people losing their habit of reading books and newspapers or even magazines. But thanks to the Kolkata Book Fair which takes the trouble to organise it every year. It is good to see such a gathering of people interacting with each other and quizzes being held.”