What do you get when you join all three words in the month of Feb, in New Delhi. Well, you have to
be at a specific place to know whats been talked about over here and that place is Pragati maidan.
Quite a many memories are associated with this event, since my childhood. Be it books, more books or uncommon stationery, i have taken back lot many things and maybe that is why this takes me back to lot more things, every other year.
The Delhi and World book fair alternately welcome book crazy, bargain hungry readers from all over NCR. A few also come for the literature and literati. A few more just for the fun of a new fair in town. There is also some percentage of daters around. They aren’t much interested in books but the looks, and nothing, i repeat brings crowds more than how the crowd is looking.
Crowd was what was missing from the ticket booth though. It could have been the perfect timing on my part, just a couple of buyers ahead of me in the queue.
I wonder if its the age, or the ever increasing footfall, but the roaming around is lesser fun now. I was noticeably agitated by the lack of proper signage. Being a veteran of fairs in Pragati maidan, still I had to ask a couple of times for the whereabouts of the mentioned hall numbers. What could I do when the hall number marked as 12B turned out actually to be 12 and 12A. But that was just a minor hinderance. The actual problem lies in entering from all the wrong gates. Gate no. 2 being a personal favourite of mine, where as common sense would say enter from 7 or 8. A long walk towards the main halls brought me to the main centre of activity, which thankfully have remained the same, all through these years. Halls 8-11. Hall number 11 has the most frequented publishers, the ones mainly famous with everyone, infact the only ones which seem to be publishing everything readable.
Rupa, HarperCollins, Penguin, OrientBlackswan, and a new one to the list, Hachette. Rhymes with a well known movie and murder weapon.
About an hour of customary stroll all over the place, I was ready to revisit stalls where I would find something worth picking up. And also I wasn’t going to be alone doing that. A main part of the crowd thought in the same way. So even if the queue at the ticket counter was misleading for me, the actual sight of people within the halls wasn’t at all same. I had seen worse though. Nothing compared to the Trade Fair still, but lesser than what I have seen in some previous versions.
One thing again which did reflect the reason behind large crowds at these fairs, was bargain. After each row you would find a stall, from so and so book store, which was selling books at throw away prices. New, second hand, third hand, donated, whatever may be the condition. Pay a 100 Rs and take one, two, as per the board said. Had I been here a couple of years ago, i would have found myself at one of these stalls, picking up novels, reference books what not, by cartloads. But then having devoured so much of it in all these years, I now roam around looking like a connoisseur, clicking pictures of the fresh hungry lot.
The first book to catch my eye was a teach yourself kind of guide towards black and white digital photography. I lapped it up like a thirsty dog in sahara desert. On the shelf were just a couple of copies and you never know when the thing you want, gets in big demand. I have been known to be lucky with bad luck before as well. Lets see how useful that literature is going to be in shaping my unknown forays into the unknown.
Moving ahead, I was caught up dead in my tracks by the travel section. Lately I have been travelling a lot. Mostly from the bedroom to the washroom and back or even to the kitchen for that matter. But I believe traveling be it of any kind is traveling, it just should not be without any purpose. So with this conviction, I decided to pick a must take journeys journal. I know how useful they eventually turn out to be. Take a look at any hotel booking portals post on FB and you would know how keen they are to disclose the utterly secret location on this planet. I guess SuperMan found the arctic abode too, from them. The article must have gone something like this,
Completely unknown to humans living since 10,000bc on earth, perfect for hiding a spaceship, crystal construction allowed and all permits given without proper paper work, calm, pristine and freezing, completely unlike your home planet. The Arctic Circle. Lightly sprinkled with never before seen shots of various lakes and glaciers one would find there.
Since so much knowledge was being given to me just standing there, I thought why not to take some along with me? So the second addition to already looking heavy bag came in the form of 501 Must Take Journeys. Lets see where does that lead me?
If anything intrigued me more than traveling, it was History. And how could I let go of it? I have been to the closest Om Book shop store many an times. Sometimes it so happens that if you have been to a place many times, new things seldom strike you, unless of course, its your own home and your better half bought new curtains. Of its your favourite bar and they are offering new bargains on pitchers. Not the ones who throw balls ofcourse. So the history section in there caught me looking at it and admiring a few new titles. Which otherwise I may have not seen at any of the stores. How it started, The history behind the way our world works today. I agree it is a mouthful. But hopefully it would be worth the weight I pulled in bringing it home as well.
My catch for today,
If you are looking for information on what this years book fair has in store for you, you are at the wrong place. :)
For that you have the last day, tomorrow, go and see for yourself. But it is as usual, another opportunity for kids to be among books, to whet that hunger for knowledge and get sucked in to spending all your life running after fancy printed paper, which takes lots of house space, and is very difficult to sort once you have been gathering it for years. Get on the internet, download it for free.
Maybe, had I been a daily visitor I may have caught some new releases, but then most of the books I did already see in book stores and having caught my fare share of catch, my feet started tricking me into telling me to take rest and head home.
On the way back I did spot two once well known personalities and now not so popular in these times. Maybe it was a sign of things to come. Just a small reminder as to how people can make and break their lives, by their choices and decisions.
Meanwhile since it was such a big literary event, a little Indiannes could not go away unnoticed, there were couple of gadget stalls too, below is one with the best of signs about its wars, oops wares.
Overall a day well spent, walk down the memory lane and of course looking forward to the next version, here is me signing off without much useful information, as always.
