Literature captivates young minds

Over 80,000 people from all age groups visited the 20th World Book Fair in Delhi on Sunday.

But more youngsters are visiting the fair this year as new sections such as cinema and literature, audio books and others, are a major attraction this time, pointed out M A Sikander, director National Book Trust.

“We have organised several seminars and interactive sessions where some of the renowned authors will read at least a page from their books. We were planning to organise a book fair in 2014 but after Kapil Sibal's announcement, we will hold a fair in 2013 as well,” said Sikander.

Talks are on to have a collaboration with foreign publishers and we are in the process of convincing Polish publishers to translate some of our children's books in their language, said Sikander.

The publishers believe that the theme pavilion at the fair, which is celebrating 100 years of Indian Cinema and displaying selected books on Cinema, seems to be drawing a large number of book lovers and cine buffs.

One of the most interesting features of the pavilion is the display of the Arriflex (Model -2 C), 35mm camera which was used by eminent directors such as Tapan Sinha, Satyajit Ray, Ritwick Ghatak and Mrinal Sen.

Sushma Seth, theatre and film personality read out passages from her book titled Stageplay: The Journey of an Actor and shared her experiences.  She said reading opens up vistas, enriches one's vocabulary, phraseology and pronunciation.

The renowned lyricist, Javed Akhtar, also marked his presence at the theme pavilion and released a book titled The Company Red, authored by Shantanu Dhar. Actor-director Satish Kaushik was also present on the occasion.

Traditional folk-dances at Lal Chowk also caught the attention of visitors. Shailesh Kumar, a Delhi-based businessman, who is a cinema buff said, “The programme kit had folk dances such as Raie, Badhai and Lathi dance and Pandwani folk singing of Madhya Pradesh as the main attraction this Sunday. My son has bought several comic books and we are delighted to come here.”

 He added, “My wife is a literature person and so this is the best place to be if you are in Delhi during this week.”

In keeping with the fair’s theme of cinema and literature, the participating publishing houses are also showcasing books which explore the relationship between literature and films.

“We are bringing out a book which will focus on three iconic figures of the country — Rabindranath Tagore, Premchand and Satyajit Ray,” said a member of Oxford Publishers.

Moreover, curious visitors were also seen flocking to Reado, a website of one of India’s biggest audio books company, Think Ink Media Inc, which was launched on Saturday. More people are likely to turn up next week.