Kolkata Book Fair

Till Buddhadev Bhattacharya gave the Tata Factory to West Bengal, and apart from the Bandhs and Strikes, Kolakata in known for its love for books. The fair started sometime in the 1970's and continues till today. But this year its different. Its traditional venue has been snatched away from it, forcing it to be held in the compound of the Salt Lake Stadium. Reasons ... pollution. It used to be held in the lungs of the city ... known as the maidan. Lots of parties got involved - The Chief Minister, The Defence Ministry, The High Court, The Army ... ultimately the courts ruled that the fair was damaging the ecology and had to be shifted out.

OLD VENUE


The new venue is a gift from the sports minister, he even waived off the Rs. 2.5lakh a day rental charges for the large stadium. However, The start at the new venue has been pathetic. The inauguration was done about 2 days back yet the grounds are occupied with half built stalls and practically no books. Usually the fair is filled with books, people and dust. At this cultural fest, you will find street plays, artists painting portraits, chilli chicken stalls, book readings and long, really long queues to enter into the popular stalls. People come not only from the city but from all over the state to catch the attractive discounts on offer and the huge variety of books on all conceivable subjects.

NEW VENUE


I haven't been visiting the fair since quite a few years as I was never in the city those times but I have my memories in place. Most prominent of them are the long queues at the ticket booth and the hunt for the car in the parking lot. This time, the fair is right opposite my office but I hardly see any crowd whatsoever. Its quite a damp start and no ones talking about the fair.

I plan to make a visit soon, but only after I hear that the stalls have been built and the books have arrived.