Visitors browse at the book fair in Jamshedpur on Thursday. (Srinivas)

Jamshedpur, Nov. 18: No, not a Tagore theme. Tagore in absentia is more like it.

Members of Tagore Society, who organised the Jamshedpur Book Fair, had promised that this year’s edition of Jamshedpur Book Fair would boast a Tagore theme commemorating the 150th birth anniversary of the literary colossus. But for book-lovers and Tagore aficionados alike, the promise now rings hollow.

Jamshedpur Women’s College principal Shukla Mahanty, an avid book-lover, confessed she found “nothing special” related to Tagore at the book fair. “I expected Tagore’s presence to be evident across the fair. As book lovers, we hoped to get some extra information on Tagore. But everything is normal, just like in the book fair held in earlier years. Setting a theme means that visitors should feel its presence everywhere once they step on fair grounds. If nothing else, there should have at least been pictures, information and tidbits on Tagore at various stalls or on various points on the premises,” she said.

Echoing her disappointment was Loyola College of Education faculty member and author Vijay Sharma. “We all knew that there was to be a Tagore theme at the book fair this year. But it is simply invisible. The stalls and ambience are normal. A visitor at the fair will not discern any change from previous years. Covers of Tagore’s well-known and lesser-known books should have been mounted prominently on various points, with excerpts from his famous works. People should have left the grounds with a greater awareness about the life and thoughts of the literary giant,” said Sharma.

Organisers did hold a seminar on the relevance of Rabindranath Tagore in today’s age and an inter-school quiz based on his life and works. Books written by and about Tagore are also available in the stalls. But book lovers are far from placated.

“Right from his Nobel-winning Gitanjali, to his Galpogucchho (bouquet of stories) and Famous Works of Rabindranath Tagore (a compilation), there are many Tagore titles on the shelves. But those are available every year at the fair. The x-factor is missing,” said a visitor.

“Books on Tagore and his translations are readily available, like in any year. But even a painting of Tagore is conspicuous by its absence in the art and craft stall put up by Tagore Society,” said Nilima Dey, a 60-year-old avid reader and regular visitor at the book fair.

Organisers, however, tried to defend themselves from the charges.

“Surely the book fair is based on Rabindranath Tagore. There are plenty of books available by the author at almost all stalls. To add to that, we have also organised a seminar in Hindi on Tagore. The school quiz was also based on the Bard,” said Tagore Society secretary Ashis Chowdhury.