Book worms flock at fair

The novel ‘Parishe’ organised by Shrushti Ventures kept up its promise of not letting any of the visitors go empty-handed. All visitors to the fair were given one free book out of the 10,000 strong collection of mainly Kannada and some English books on display. Renowned Kannada poet K S Nisar Ahmed, who inaugurated the fair called it a ‘revolutionary idea’.

Ahmed added that youngsters and kids turning up to pick up books for free was particularly encouraging. “I saw a child pick up a book on meta-physics and I don’t expect the child to read it. But at least it allows the parents exposure to the book and therefore knowledge,” he said.

The turn-out was so impressive that the organisers had to call for 3,000 additional books by afternoon. Nagaraj Navunda, the co-ordinator of the initiative, said that the organisation intends to hold the fair on a large scale.

“We have been actively urging people to contribute their old books. Our intention is to hold the fair every three months. You can create anything without money if you just apply your mind to it,” he declared.