Crowds throng the Ananda Publishers stall at Howrah Boi Mela.
Pictures by Gopal Senapati
The 26th edition of Howrah Boi Mela at Sarat Sadan premises will have star power to attract more footfalls this year. The mela, which was inaugurated on January 17 and will continue till January 25 will have Feluda calling on January 23. And along with him will be director Sandip Ray, and veteran actor Paran Bandopadhyay, who plays Bonbihari Sarkar in the film. Interestingly, it is Satyajit Ray’s first Feluda novel Badshahi Angti and Saradindu Bandopadhyay’s Byomkesh novel Beni Sanhar that seem to top the charts so far at the boi mela. So those wanting their copy can get it signed by the screen Feluda-cum-Byomkesh alias Abir Chatterjee at the fair grounds today.
Badshahi Angti and
Beni Sanhar flew off the shelves at the book fair
A procession from the district library to the Sarat Sadan premises, the venue of the fair, preceded the inauguration of the book fair on the afternoon of January 17. Calcutta University vice-chancellor Suranjan Das, while lighting the lamp, said: “It is heartening to see that the districts are holding their own book fairs. It shows that people are still interested in reading books.”
The bookworms of Howrah made their way to the fair to check out the new titles. Leading publishers were present with their spread. When popular novels of yesteryears are made into movies, it invariably leads to a resurgence of sales. So was seen for Satyajit Ray’s Badshahi Angti and Saradindu Bandopadhyay’s Byomkesh. Both are favourites at this year’s fair. “We are seeing a surge of demand for the books that have been turned into films recently. Both Badshahi Angti and Beni Sanhar are selling like hot cakes,” said Arunima Roy from behind the counters at Ananda Publishers’ stall. All time best-sellers like Sunil Gangopadhyay’s Purba Paschim and Pratham Alo are still disappearing from the shelves of Ananda Publishers’ stall. A new title Sandhya Rater Shefali, the autobiography of cabaret dancer Miss Shefali, has found many takers too. At the Patra Bharati stall, Ranjan Bandopadhyay is a bestseller with his Nayak Rabi and Ami Rabi Thakurer Bou. Jhimli Mukherjee Pandey’s translation of Sashi Tharoor’s The Great Indian Novel, titled Abar Mahabharat in Bengali, has also found a lot of enquiries at the stall.
Narayan Debnath’s comics are always a favourite among children and copies of Nonte Phonte are flying off the
counter from the first day of the fair. Dey’s Publishing also has a number of new novels this year. “We are compiling into books newspaper columns of bureaucrats like Tapan Bandopadhyay and Bhagirath Mishra,” said Subhash De of Dey’s Publishing. Named Amlagacchi, Bandopadhyay and Mishra have written about their real life incidents while working as civil servants. Many at the fair are browsing through Amlagachhi. “I came to spend the Sunday evening with my family at the Howrah Boi Mela, but I wouldn’t mind picking up any of Satyajit Ray’s Feluda series or Professor Shonku for my son,” said Suman Bhattacharya, a resident of Kadamtala.
Among novels, Suchitra Bhattacharya’s Ei Akasher Niche, Samaresh Majumdar’s Mayabanabiharini and Bani Basu’s Ashtam Garbho Volume II are selling well at the Howrah fair. However, the English book stall Anamika Prakashani had a thin crowd of youngsters on a Sunday evening. Volumes of Chetan Bhagat’s novels went untouched on the second day. A few young boys browsed through the pages of Dan Brown novels or a Stephen Hawking book.
The fair this year has 50 book stalls and another 10 non-book stalls. The Urdu Academy joined the fair a few days after inauguration. Seminars are being held everyday on topics like child psychology, role of women in literature, the effects of fast food on health and also on the importance of animals and pets in life. Cultural programmes are also on at a stage made in the adjoining children’s park. A stall on traffic awareness by the Howrah City Police has been made where badges of IPS officers, indicating their rank were on display.
Today is billed to be a big day for Howrah Boi Mela. For those who miss out Abir Chatterjee and Sandip Ray can catch a glimpse of silver screen starlets Lovely, better known as Kajol in Star Jalsa’s Jal Nupur and Ankita Chakraborty, known to everyone as Kamalika in Ishti Kutum.
Budding writer, Sumita Mitra’s collection of poems will also be launched on the same day at the fair.
