23rd Delhi Book Fair begins, study books a major draw

After a dull start in the wake of violence following the conviction of Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh and sudden showers on Saturday, the Delhi Book Fair saw a large number of book lovers of the national capital turning up to the event on Sunday.

With the theme "Padhe Bharat, Badhe Bharat" (India reads, India grows), the Delhi Book Fair -- organised by the India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) in association with the the Federation of Indian Publishers -- entered its 23rd edition.

Held at Pragati Maidan, the fair has been spread over two halls -- one dedicated to stationery items while the other has book stalls.

"Our focus this year is more on study books and syllabus guide materials. However, there are many stalls with story books as well," Pradip Chhabra, Organiser, Delhi Book Fair, told IANS.

Visitor Priyanka Bagaria, who came along with her son Granth, a student of class eight in Blue Bells Public School, said the availability of many books under one roof is a major reason for visiting the fair.

"Visiting Daryaganj is always not possible. Here I got rather more variety of study material and that too with more discount," Bagaria observed.

Like her, Ashish Aggarwal, a resident of Noida who was visiting Delhi Book Fair for the first time, said the lack of good bookstores in Noida drew him to the event.

"There aren't many book shops in Noida. Here I got many books which are not easily available in the market, especially some old books related to General Knowledge and communication skills improvement," Aggarwal said.

This year, the fair is providing a unique platform for business-to-business transactions, establishing new contacts, entering into co-publishing arrangements, translation and copyright arrangements, and reprinting of old and rare books, apart from providing retailing opportunities.

It will also host conferences and seminars, buyer-seller meets, book releases, discussions, literary activities for children and meet-the-author events.

The Delhi Book Fair will conclude on September 3.

--IANS

som/vgu/dg