My own International Kolkata Book Fair

The International Kolkata Book Fair or Boi Mela came, conquered and went, leaving a good percentage of Kolkatans happy as well as sad (ten days is so short a time). Except me. I was happy and ecstatic. No, no ... it wasn't because I manged three trips. Nor was it because I bought quite a few books. All these ofcourse made me happy. But the ecstasy came from how I made the perfect trip to the boi mela, beating scores of others!

The last day of the boi mela fell on a Sunday, the forenoon of which is when all good Bengalis (god bless their collective souls) are busy contemplating a good Sunday lunch; I, the early bird, zoomed off to the boi mela and reached the gate at 12, when I was ushered in. And viola! The entire boi mela to myself and (to be perfectly honest) a couple of hundred other early birds but there was so much of the book fair per person that I could be forgiven in thinking that I was alone.

Stall owners were opening the shutters or collapsible gates, setting up books and other wares in and around the stalls.

Ah! I even went to the favorites – Ananda & Dey and did not have to queue up (that alone is like the 8th wonder of the world). I sauntered in, browsed, picked up books and even conversed with the owners about books, prices, discounts, life in general…

Two hours of strolling around the Milan Mela grounds and several books later, I walked out of Gate 3 and upto the main road wherever I was taken aback at the sight of maybe a million crossing over from the Science City side and rushing in through Gate 1.

As I crossed over to the other side which was no problem at all (god bless Kolkata Police) there was a minibus waiting on the other side which I boarded and took the only seat available! The good bus conductor told me to get off at Park Circus Tram Depot from where I could take an auto – and there indeed was one auto waiting which then dropped me off at Ballygunje Phanri where I got into another auto which just happened to saunter along and was home in no time...

tucking into a good meal of Dal, bhat and Mach Bhaja!

The post siesta evening cha

and the company of my many book!

"Hariye Jaowa Din", Reminiscences of Bina Dey

A hand-painted greetings card by Bina Dey, October 4, 1933

Photo courtesy: Mukul Dey Archives

It's that time of the year again: The International Kolkata Book Fair which begins on the 25th and ends on the 5th of february. And for me and art lovers, here is a treat to look forward to:

"HARIYE JAOWA DIN", REMINISCENCES OF BINA DEY

At the fag end of her days Bina Dey[1906 - 1999], Mukul Dey's wife, recounted the story of her life and experiences to Ms. Anjali Bandopadhyay of Kolkata. Since 1996-97 Anjali took a number of audio interviews of Bina, extended over a period of about two years. "Hariye Jaowa Din" will be a compilation of Bina's interviews by Anjali, which is scheduled to be published in early 2012 by Papyrus, Kolkata.

Bina's reminiscence recounts in great detail her first marital home at the village of Moluti at the Birbhum - Jharkhand border, when she was the bride of Sharadindu Chattopadhyay, a well known Congress worker of Birbhum.

Bina's book will have rich illustrations by Mukul Dey and others, along with an interesting collection of rare photographs.

My earliers posts on Book Fairs past:

Miles to go before we sleep

Kolkata Book Fair 2009

Review: A Winter on the Nile

Florence Nightangle and Gustave Flaubert travel to Egypt in 1849 and down the Nile and back within days of each other but don't meet. They seem to successfully dodge each other by a few hours, days or month. Both in their twenties and not yet famous. Both "find" their calling or have their doubts cleared and return from the trip to their destinies for which they become famous. Florence Nightangle becomes the lady with the Lamp and Gustave pens Madame Bovary. The narrative tour down the Nile and back is fascinating to say the least. Luxor, Aswan, Karnak, Abu Simbel, Philea, Heliolpolis...

Lucky that Anthony Sattin found the coincidence of their spending "A Winter on the Nile".

Miles to go before we sleep...

The International Kolkata Book Fair 2011 is here! I have already visited it thrice and feel like going over again, as are millions and millions. Did you notice the ramp at the Food Court? Did you notice the Food court? Did you notice how the road in most parts have been smoothened and flattened, easier to walk on? Well, its to a large part due to advocacy and lobbying by the West Bengal Disability Activist Forum (DAF), a state level forum of NGOs, Persons with Disabilities and individuals.

DAF has been lobbying with the Book Sellers and Publisher's Guild for quite sometime now on the issue of accessibility at the Book Fair. Apart from cordial meetings, nothing much came out of it, except in October. When the BS&PG "promised" to make the Fair accessible by issuing notices to stall owners to add ramps to each stalls and this was reported in the media too. So, DAF was understandably happy.

However, the single most important thing asked for and promised - the ramps to the stalls which were more in number compared to the Halls (which did have ramps) were missing.

DAF organised a meeting at the ampitheatre in the Milon Mela grounds and then all the participants, Children and Persons with Disabilities, parents, NGO staff walked through the fair and to the Publishers Guild were they demanded an explanation.

I guess the BS&PG were caught napping since surrounded by some 100 irate people and the media (who had sniffed a possible "breaking news"), they could only come up with silliest of statements and excuses: Not our responsibility / Why do they need to come to the book fair? / Why do they need to go to all the stalls (go only to those with ramps) / It is not possible etc / This is just a publicity gimmick etc.

The rally making its way to the Guild House

Surrounding the Guild house

Very few passers by (and there were many) stopped to find out what was happening. Most were curious or angry at their path blocked or aired summary statements - Jekhanei mohila sekhanei jhamle (there will be trouble when women are around) / They are angry since they haven't been given stalls etc.

This is not an issue in any developed nation since ramps have been made compulsory a very long time ago. Handrails, patterned floor tiles (for the visually impaired), ramps, wide doorways to accomodate wheel chairs, flat steps (for those using callipers and crutch) are inbuilt in to the system and never have to be mentioned.

Remember, India did sign the UNCRPD and with a flourish ... one of the first countries to do so. And yet, "eder ekhane ashar ki dorkar?" is the reality. All DAF asked for was a simple wooden ramp instead of steps at the entrance of each stall. Like Oliver, they dared to ask for more?!


But we live in hope. Six ramps (one at the food court, and 5 at the entrance of the 5 halls) is a begining. Our small rally might have started something good. But we have miles to go before we sleep ... to remind all of us ... that we (as a nation) have promises to keep.