The world of books

The World Book Fair successfully captures imaginations of book lovers and book worms alike, but it fails to give an international feel

By Jyotsna Singh
New Delhi, February 05: The World Book Fair, being held in Delhi’s famous exhibition place Pragati Maidan, is a place to be at. It meets all expectations that a fair can offer. Display of books, magazines, fiction, non-fiction – everything you can associate with reading. It’s a pleasure trip for all those who love adventure of ideas and stories, as well as discovery of new or old in the new package.

But as if that was not enough. The book fair holds everything that is even remotely related to books. Stationery, wide range of colours, globes of a huge variety, and even fun chair-tables for kids. The colours were exotic. At one shop there was a pack of 60 colours which had pencil colours to metallic finish shades. Another shop sported globes of all possible dimensions – some traditional plain, others with a bulb inside which could easily give a nice lampshade a run for identity.

The fair also displayed what are called modern marketing skills. There were organisations which were not happy with just customers coming to them and asking for what they required. They were also approaching the visitors and proactively selling their products after spending a good deal of time with them. Of course, these were the costliest products of the lot. Grolier Books has come up with a whole package of learning for children from age two to eight. The package or “the concept” differs from the rote learning method and develops skills to solve problems intelligently. The MRP of the package is Rs 40,000, but is sold in the book fair for Rs 22, 300.

There are other groups who become a part of the fair to get visibility and propagate their ideology. Janbaat, an organisation which advocates for the cause of the deprived and underprivileged sections, has a small shop in Hall No. 12. They sell progressive books, posters and book-marks at a price lower than the MRP. Leftword in Hall No. 1 has similar intentions, though the readership is more hep, and hence the prices.