In good books?

Is Book Fair 2008 a hit or a miss? Arshad Ali finds out the answer to the big question While booksellers and stall owners of the 550-odd stalls at the 33rd Book Fair, now christened Boi Mela, complain of poor business and slumping sales, organisers are happy that the fair has finally taken place. The last minute cancellation of the Kolkata Book Fair at the Park Circus Maidan and a change in its venue has proved to be a bane for some and boon for others. Most booksellers complain of unprecedented losses this year. “On an average, we sell books worth Rs 4 lakh every year but going by the trend this year, I doubt if it will touch the 1 lakh mark,” said Ajay Kumar Shaw of Kwality Book Stall. He said more lovers than book lovers were visiting the fair. “Most people come in pairs, eat and hang around rather than buy books,” he said. According to some, the real season of holding the fair has been spent in political bickering. “We are bearing the brunt at the end of the day, losing at least 70 per cent of normal business. The mela season is over and now it is time for board exams. ICSE and CBSE are in progress whereas higher secondary is knocking at the door,” pointed out Samit Banerjee of Education Forum, a publisher and bookseller adding that many parents have opted out for the same reason. People, like the owner of Madina Publications, attribute the loss to the delay in completion of stalls. “The lights have been put up this morning and there are still no provision for fans. This place has become a furnace and visitors have chosen to stay away,” he told this EKP correspondent on Tuesday (March 3), pointing at the bundled books that were still to be put up on display. Some stall owners, however, look at this fair more like an annual ritual that should be organised irrespective of earnings from it. “We have suffered losses but are happy that all the senior members of the fraternity have met in this huge get together,” said Debashish Bhattacharya, a member of a little magazine that has put up its stall in the Little Magazine Corner. Organisers admit there had been impediments. “The success of the fair lies in the fact that it happened and the secretary of the guild is solely responsible for the inconveniences caused. The fair almost got called off and if that happened it would have been like Durga Puja not happening in Kolkata,” said Anil Acharya, secretary of one of the sub committees of the Boi Mela. He admitted there had been a delay and businessmen have incurred a loss. “Another huge fair was being held on these grounds and everything had to be dismantled before we could put up the fair and it is true that we couldn’t do justice to all, but I request booksellers to be a bit patient and hope that business will pick up in the remaining days of the fair,” he said. Others however believe it is only a matter of time before people get acclimatised to this new format and venue. “We have had reasonable footfall in spite of the board exams being on. If the book fair continues here and is held at the right time, people would happily accept it,” claimed Soumitra Lahiri, PRO.

Source: Times of India