Kolkata International Book Fair: Bustling With Footfalls with Over 1,000 Stalls

Kolkata: The 47th Kolkata International Book Fair saw an encouraging response over the weekend, with hundreds of people visiting the venue even from neighouring districts, such as South 24 Parganas and North 24 Parganas.

V Ravi, a resident of Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, who works in IT (information technology) firm Cogentrix, said this was his first trip to the ‘City of Joy’ as Kolkata is referred to. Ravi, who stays with his friends in an apartment in Rajarhaat New Town, said his visit to the book fair was an emotional experience.

“From my childhood, I had heard about the Kolkata Book Fair, its splendour and gaiety. What I am seeing now is even more fascinating. You can get a 360-degree view of the world of books and book lovers thronging here.  The food in the fair is also fascinating,” said the 26-year-old IT engineer, who picked up a novel, Yet to Come, by Russian author Ivan Turgenev.

 “It is also fascinating as one can even read books even with no one even asking whether you will purchase it or not,” he added.

Ravi’s friend and colleague Uttiyo Basu, 35, said he had been visiting the fair since 1995 with his parents. “I have many memories of the book fair. Love also blossomed in this fair where I met my wife for the first time in 2015,” said.

Soma, 29, his wife (a former Students Federation of India (SFI) activist), who teaches Economics in a Naihati school, said she was perpetually worried about losing her way in the huge fair, where about 1,000 publishers, had stalls, She said she was keen on visiting the stalls of National Book Agency, the Chhatra Sangram (SFI), the Ananda Publishers, Aaj Kaal and Left Word.    

While in 2023 fair, over two million people visited the fair, not every book seller is happy at the quantum of sales this year.  

“Sales pick up from day one in our Ekushe Book Fair (Dhaka’s largest fair).” said Samir Ranjan Saha, a resident of Dhaka, Bangladesh, and owner of Shabda Shaili Publications. Incidentally, January 20 was observed as ‘Bangladesh Divas’ at the book fair, with famous Bangladesh artiste Rezwana Choudhury Banya rendering her songs in the SBI auditorium. About 50 publishers from the neighbouring country have set up stalls in the cramped Bangladesh stall.  

“Though Bangladesh publishers can directly reach readers through this fair, in the Ekushe Book Fair in Dhaka, the entry of Indian publishers is restricted,” alleged Tridib Chatterjee of the Book Sellers Guild, He said they were planning to submit a memorandum to the Bangladesh government on this.

The Kolkata Book Fair, was inaugurated recently by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in the presence of Alex Ellis CMG, the British High Commissioner in India, Alison Barrett MBE, Country Director British Council India, author Bani Basu amon others.

Author Bani Basu was conferred Life Time Felicitation by Rama Prasad Goenka and a CESC Sristi Samman 2024 worth Rs 2,00,000 during the inaugural ceremony.

This year, there has been the highest participation of book publishers and little magazines numbering around 1,000, as also the highest number of multinational publishers. Around 20 countries are participating, such as the US, the UK, Germany, France, Italy, Russia, Spain, Peru, Colombia, Argentina, Mexico, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Costa Rica and Thailand.

“As book publishers, we use up a lot of paper that results in cutting down a huge number of trees. As a gesture of giving back to the environment, for the first time, we are conducting a tree plantation ceremony during the book fair,” Tridip Chatterjee of the Book Sellers and Publishers Guild told NewsClick.

A major attraction of the Kolkata International Book Fair will be the 10th edition of the Kolkata Literature Festival, which will be held for three days in the SBI auditorium, on January 26-29.