Owners of stall 211 at the Chennai Book Fair paid their respects to Gnani Sankaran in a unique way. They placed a photo of the journalist along with some trivia and results of the polls he conducted.
CHENNAI: Stall 211 of the Chennai Book Fair, has since Monday, turned into a temporary shrine of sorts for the veteran journalist, political commentator and theatre personality Gnani Sankaran. With a photo of the man at the entrance of the stall, the small space was filled with handwritten trivia and results of polls that visitors of the stall could choose to participate.
“He put up the charts himself this year. He used to tell us that since he’s an atheist, he did not celebrate any festivals and so, the book fair was his only celebration,” said his close friend and volunteer at the book stall, Venkatesh.
Gnani was a regular at the fair this year, present at his stall almost every evening, interacting with fans. “The last two years, he couldn’t come personally to the book fair. This year, he was there until Saturday evening,” said Venketesh. “Doctors advised him to stay away from crowded places, as it could increase chances of infection, but that did not stop him from visiting the fair.”
The results of his most recent poll hung amid the trivia: ‘What will happen to Rajinikanth in politics?’. While 12.5% voters said he would become the next Chief Minister, 11.25% said he would succeed in becoming leader of the opposition. On the other hand, 76.25% of voters said he is likely to get a maximum of 10% votes and ‘fade away like Vijaykanth.’
A book at the entrance had fans writing about their fond memories of the writer and the impact he had on their lives. “We are planning to keep the channel going. For now, we’ll re-run content from the archives,” said Kavitha Gajendran, who is a part of Gnani’s theatre group ‘Pareeksha’ and a part of the team behind his YouTube version of ‘O Pakkangal’, where he shares his take on current events.
A family haunt for Pongal
According to members of the Booksellers & Publishers Association of South India (BAPASI), the book fair saw double the visitors this Pongal when compared to last year. The same time last year, people in large numbers flocked to the Marina where the Jallikattu protests were in full swing, taking the sheen off the book fair.
“It has been a good time for publishers and sellers this time especially since sales took a hit last year due to the protests,” said Suresh Kumar, Associate Joint Secretary, BAPASI. “The fair had 25,000 visitors on Saturday, 40,000 on Sunday and 60,000 on Monday.