Pragati Maidan is, once again, buzzing with activity as avid readers and literary enthusiasts browse through books, attend sessions by various authors and participate in events at the New Delhi World Book Fair (NDWBF), which is one of the most awaited events in the Capital. The nine-day book fair—it is themed around Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav that celebrates and commemorates 75 years of India’s independence—was inaugurated by Minister of State for Education Dr Rajkumar Ranjan Singh on Saturday.
Youth take centre stage
The slew of events organised at the Fair include interactive sessions with children, decision makers and stakeholders, showcase of literature from G-20 member nations, and others. On day two, the fair hosted sessions with those under the PM-YUVA (Young, Upcoming and Versatile Authors) scheme. Devarakonda Praveen Kumar, a PhD student of Andhra University, who was one of the authors—he’s written Unsung Freedom Fighters of Andhra—took the stage to discuss his experiences of writing historical narratives. Commenting on his research and writing process, he shared that it took him more than six months to complete the book.
“Some families of the freedom fighters weren’t there and families that were available didn’t support the research. Some weren’t comfortable with giving manuscripts of the heroes. But despite the challenges, I kept trying and eventually, they agreed to help out with the research,” he said. Kumar also remarked that the youth must draw inspiration from the lives of these fighters and fight for their rights and for India.
Keeping the child in you alive
The major attraction at NDWBF remains the Children’s Pavilion, a section for kids where a number of events including poetry recitals and storytelling have been planned and organised for children across age groups. Here, one will find a stall for young authors who would want to discuss their books. However, irrespective of their age, one found people crowding this stall for various reasons.Preeti Sharma (26), a Jawaharlal Nehru University student, who met at the Fair on Sunday, shared that she is looking for Spider-Man books by Marvel comics. Divulging that she has a special connection with the character, she mentioned that she’d like to revisit her childhood through these comics.
Browsing through Chacha Choudhary comics, Dwarka resident K Bhaskar, who is a father of two girls, reminisced about his childhood days, adding that nowadays, children only indulge in foreign comic characters. Adding that he has visited a book fair after many years, he said, “Earlier, I used to buy books for myself. But now, the focus is on my children.” He was also searching for Vedic Maths and Olympiad books for his children, who were most excited about the experience at the Fair as it was the first time they were buying books by themselves. Bhaskar’s daughter Gargee (11) was happy with her purchase of Minecraft, which she said is based on a video game. Talking about her pending reading list, she shared that she’s yet to purchase the Wimpy Kid book series. The World Book Fair has an interesting line-up of events including seminars and cultural programmes. What’s best is, one will never find themselves bored here as it is a space that caters to every age group and every emotion.
CHECK IT OUT
WHAT: New Delhi World Book Fair 2023
WHEN: Till March 5, 11:00am to 8:00pm
WHERE: Pragati Maidan, New Delhi