The eighth New Town Book Fair, currently underway at the Clock Tower grounds, opened on January 28 to eight strikes of a wooden hammer on a gong.
The honours were done by poet and Kabita Academy chairman Subodh Sarkar, in presence of artist Shuvaprasanna, Hidco managing director Debashis Sen, author Pracheta Gupta, leading publishers and other dignitaries.
“We have been through a lot in the past couple of years. But it is deeply heartening that the book fair is being held despite getting pushed back from its initial schedule because of the third wave,” said Animesh Bhattacharya, chief executive officer of the Newtown Kolkata Development Authority.
“The fair is happening at this spot for the first time. This seems to be in the thick of a residential area, unlike the earlier venue (New Town Mela Ground). If even 15 per cent of the people living in the highrises around come to the fair, it would be a success,” said Sarkar.
Tridib Chatterjee, general secretary of the Publishers and Booksellers Guild which organises the Kolkata International Book Fair, said the fair had the potential to become the second biggest in the city in the next five years. “A book fair’s success is measured by not the number of stalls but the number of people it brings close to books,” he added.
A first-timer on the stage was newly elected Rajarhat New Town MLA Tapash Chatterjee. “We organise a book fair in Rajarhat too. There are no alternatives to books even in this age of technology,” he said.
Though urban development minister Firhad Hakim could not come, his wife Ismat attended the programme. The fair will be on till February 6.