Reading habit is alive, but Bangalore Book Fair dies!

Was the government fair in not permitting the Bangalore Book Fair? Why there should be book fairs?

The cancellation of the much awaited event, the fortnight-long Bangalore Book Fair, this year is a reflection of the state government’s inability to understand that good reading habits are important for its denizens.

The fair at Palace Grounds was cancelled at the last-minute after the state Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (DPAR) discovered a legal point on the venue in the light of the long-running battle between the heirs of the erstwhile Mysore rulers and the government on the ownership of Bangalore Palace Grounds.

The purpose of any book fair is to create awareness about book culture in the community. And organising a book fair is an effort to revive reading habits in the community. Bangalore’s book-stores are shutting down and the existing stores are not big enough to display the kind of variety that a book lover would like. Most of these do not display tomes written in regional languages. So a book fair would have made up for the lack of exposure to the books published in India and beyond.

The organizers, having sweated it out for several months now, have been left high and dry with the last-minute decision. What I understand from my discussions with the organizers is that the fair planned this year was not just to sell books but also include literary competitions for school and college students, debating and other events.

Instead of whole-heartedly allowing such community activities to take place, the CM instead agreed to allow the organizers to hold a three-day fair, something which was not acceptable to the organizers. The rule by the government not to hold any commercial activities in palace grounds is fine but there must be consideration for special activities and events such as these where in a community benefits and it is the responsibility of the government to push and promote such events. Obviously books and its promotion are the last thing on the government’s priority list.

They must understand why a book fair is important to the community. Here’s why.

  • Find books that are out of print or hard to locate.
  • Meet your favorite author to ask that burning question about a page turner you read of his or hers.
  • Become familiar with authors and different genres of works by authors.
  • Understand the publishing industry.
  • Attend work shops on writing, publishing etc
  • Learn how to become a writer by talking to trade and people from the industry at the fair.
  • Book fair can be a cultural outing as there will be more than books at the fair.

By discouraging such an event, the government has only put nail in the coffin when the art of reading is still alive.

Abraham Lincoln said “The things I want to know are in books; my best friend is the man who’ll get me a book I ain’t read.” This year, thanks to the government, I will not know what I want to know from an ocean of books at the fair. Neither will I have my best friend get me the book I have not read.

Related Articles

Those three days at the Bangalore Literature Festival
Bangalore’s iconic book store
Join the politically inspired book club, to debate what you read!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Similar Story

Local body polls in Anna Nagar, Zone 8: Wards, candidates and issues

A useful compiler for residents of Zone 8, comprised of areas such as Anna Nagar and Shenoy Nagar as they get set to vote on February 19th.

Zone Snapshot: Wards- 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108 Population- 757273 (2013) Polling Stations- 572 To locate your polling station – https://tnsec.tn.nic.in/tn_election_urban2021/find_your_polling_station.php To locate your ward and zone – https://chennaicorporation.gov.in/gcc/citizen-details/location-service/find_zone.jsp Issues in the Zone: In January of 2021, the waste collection in 11 out of 15 zones were handed over to private companies. Zone 8, was one of the zones where a waste collection contract was handed to Ramky Enviro Engineers (a private envrionmetal services company). The company absorbed around a 100 workers, and the rest (who were employed under the…

Similar Story

Local body polls in Adyar, Zone 13 : Wards, candidates and issues

A useful compiler for residents of Zone 13, comprised of areas such as Adyar, Thiruvanmiyur and Velachery, as they get set to vote on February 19th.

Zone snapshot Wards -170, 171, 172, 173, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182 Population - 490767 (2013) Number of polling stations - 471 To locate your polling station - https://tnsec.tn.nic.in/tn_election_urban2021/find_your_polling_station.php To locate your ward and zone - https://chennaicorporation.gov.in/gcc/citizen-details/location-service/find_zone.jsp Issues in the zone: Traffic congestion at Madhya Kailash Junction is a key issue that affects commuters. Those looking to travel to the airport or southern parts of the city face long hours of commute during peak hours in the area due to traffic jams. Overflowing sewage and old sewage pipes are an issue in Adyar. The old pipes leak…