THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: “A book is a dream that you hold in your hands,” is an oft-quoted statement of Neil Gaiman. If that’s indeed the case, then Kerala Bhasha Institute has built a paradise of dreams for Malayalam bibliophiles with their 3-day book fair on the Karyavattom campus of University of Kerala. Part of the KuGala’23 Campus Fest, jointly organised by the Department Union and the Research Union, the fair was thronged by students.
“We have a rich collection of books, nearly 250 titles, from various fields including science and technology, history, agriculture, literature and economics,” said Dr Ganga T, Senior Research Officer of Kerala Bhasha Institute. She added that the main aim of the book fair was to promote Malayalam as an effective medium to explore even modern sciences and knowledge, and to build a strong connection with works in other languages via translation.
“To improve the love for the mother tongue and to regionalise the language, we are also publishing Malayalam academic books including those for engineering students,” Ganga said.The Malayalam edition of ‘The Dawn of Science’ by Thanu Padmanabhan and Vasanthi Padmanabhan, translated by P Suresh Babu, was officially released by Cultural Affairs Minister Saji Cherian on Wednesday as part of the fest.
A discussion on the book, ‘The Argumentative Indian’ by Amartya Sen, translated by Asha Latha is slated to be held at 11 am on Thursday.Works of personalities like Sree Narayana Guru and A R Rajaraja Varma, Kerala state award-winning film book ‘Chamayam’, ‘3D 4D Bhaviyile Sangethikhavidhyagal’ by Dr Sithara Pavitran, and Malayalam translations of many fiction and non-fiction foreign language books, tribal ethnic language glossaries like Paniya Bhasha Nikhandu, Foklore Nikhandu, and prominent books published by the Kerala Bhasha Institute were on display at the fair.
Books are also available at discounted rates at the fair. It will conclude on Thursday.