700 sports titles together under one roof

The books, published by around 75 publishing houses over the years, have been put on display in a special exhibition at the world’s second-largest book fair to symbolise the connection between literature and sports in a year when India will host the 29th Commonwealth Games.

From Mulk Raj Anand’s classic book on traditional games and sports in India to books on various popular and dying indigenous sports and biographies of sports personalities, the exhibition titled “Reading Our Common Wealth” became a must-visit for the droves that landed at the fair on its opening day on Saturday.

The fairs organisers, the National Book Trust, has also brought out a special International Rights Catalogue with bibliographic and copyright details of around 550 of these titles.

To highlight the connection between the two faculties that exercise the body and the mind, the exhibition is being embellished by film shows and live interaction of children and young adults with legendary sports personalities.

“Children and young adults will be able to interact with sportspersons like Milkha Singh and Zafar Iqbal, and legendary commentators like Narottam Puri and Jasdeve Singh during the fair, at the theme pavilion,” National Book Trust director Nuzhat Hassan told Deccan Herald.

The exhibition is part of NBT’s National Action Plan for the Readership Development among the Youth (NAPRDY) that has the objective of bringing books and youth closer, she said.

The fair has put special emphasis on children this year, with the erection of a special children’s pavilion where a lot of activities are being organised for school students during the course of the event.

Quite appropriately, right across the children’s pavilion is a special exhibit of books on and by Jawaharlal Nehru.