The gates of Ice Skating Rink and Haldiram Banquet in Kolkata turned into “portkeys” to the world of books in October. Bookchor, an online book buying and selling platform, organised Lock the Box, an offline book fair at Ice Skating Rink from October 10 to 12. And Kitab Lovers, an e-commerce website, hosted Load the Box at Haldirams, Ballygunge, from October 21 to 24. The best part? Bibliophiles paid for the boxes and not the books.
“A lot of youngsters cannot afford to buy books. We came up with this book box initiative to help people read more books. There is no specific age group we cater to. We have a wide range of genres that cater to everyone’s tastes. We have three types of boxes. The Money Saver can hold up to 10 to 13 books at Rs 1,100, The Wealth Box has room for 17 to 20 books at Rs 1,650, and The Treasure Box can hold up to 30 to 33 books at Rs 2,750. We host Load the Box book offline fairs in various cities,” said Harpreet Chawla, director and founder, Kitab Lovers.
At Bookchor’s Lock the Box fair, the Odysseus Box fit a minimum of 8 to 10 books at Rs 1,199. The Perseus Box could accommodate 15 to 17 books at Rs 1,799. The Hercules Box was the largest of the lot, fitting 28 to 30 books at Rs 2,999.
Kitab Lovers’ Load the Box at Halidram Banquets, Ballygunge. Amit Datta
Boxes full of books
Tables and shelves full of books greeted visitors at the Lock the Box fair. There were bestsellers by popular writers like Durjoy Datta, Ravinder Singh, James Patterson, Sophie Kinsella, Nicholas Sparks, Novoneel Chakraborty, Ruskin Bond and Dan Brown.
“I think a physical book fair is the need of the hour because everyone is way too much engaged on their phones. It is the best way we can interact with readers. We get to know what they read. We cover all age groups and genres — children’s books, teen fiction, young adults, adults, fiction, non-fiction. We also have coffee table books and cookery books,” said Vidyut Sharma, co-founder, Bookchor.
“We were really happy to see so many people turning up. The basic idea of this fair is not to generate a lot of revenue but to improve readership in India. We organise these book fairs in different cities. Every corner of India is having a different kind of readership. So, we are also learning,” Sharma added.
The scene at Haldiram Banquet was similar with table after table stacked with books. Older readers mostly flocked to the non-fiction and political sections, poring over the books and engaging in some adda without the customary cups of tea. College-goers were drawn towards the crime, mystery and classics sections.
“We hadn’t expected so many people to attend an offline book fair at this time. But the footfall was encouraging. Love for books drew them here. We have been working for almost 30 to 40 hours to put together the book fair. The next Load the Box will be held after a little more than six to eight months,” said R.K. Shanker, co-founder, Kitab Lovers.
Kitab Lovers focused on the fact that reading has gone up since the pandemic. “We are getting a really good response now. As of now, we are only doing offline fairs. In future, we might consider online book fairs too,” said Chawla.
R.K. Shanker, co-founder, Kitab Lovers and Vidyut Sharma, co-founder, Bookchor. Amit Datta
What was up for grabs
Lock the Box was a reader’s haven. Activity books, colouring books, puzzle books and illustrated books were an instant hit with young readers. Teenagers could spot Goosebumps and Shopaholic series among other favourites. Then there were shelves full of books by Jo Nesbo, Danielle Steel, Amitav Ghosh, Nora Roberts, Sidney Sheldon, Sudeep Nagarkar and Sudha Murty.
“I am coming to a book fair after a year. I have packed my box with Roald Dahl’s Boy, Johnson Pete’s I’d Rather be Famous and Daisy Meadows’ Olympia the Games Fairy. It was a relief to get out of my house and come to a physical book fair where I could browse a whole lot of books before choosing,” said Ayantika Chatterjee, a Class IV student of Mahadevi Birla World Academy.
William Shakespeare, John Grisham, J.K. Rowling, Agatha Christie, Ruskin Bond, Jeffrey Archer, Ken Follett, Barack Obama, Orhan Pamuk, Khaled Hosseini and Kevin Missal sold like hot cakes at the Load the Box book fair.
(L-R) Barsha Mondal, a first-year postgraduate student of English at Calcutta University and Stuti Barua, a third-year Microbiology student at St. Xavier’s College. Amit Datta
“The collection is vibrant. I am into classics and you will find my box is full of them. I also love Agatha Christie so anything that had Christie written on it went inside my box. I have actually been working on my list of books for the past three days. This is my first Load The Box event, so I’m very excited about it,” said Stuti Barua, a third-year Microbiology student at St. Xavier’s College.
“I have picked up books I would require for my master’s. I have also picked up Khaled Hosseini, George Elliott and Jane Austen. I even have some books that have been adapted into movies like 12 Years a Slave,” said Barsha Mondal, a first-year postgraduate student of English at Calcutta University.
Bookchor allowed students to volunteer at the event. Students who love books were eligible to apply.
“We recruit students as volunteers. We put up social media posts, calling for volunteers. Applicants had to fill in a form and submit it. Volunteers received the biggest box as a token of appreciation,” said Chawla.
Last updated on 28 Oct 2021
