National Book Fair: Perfect Sunday outing for book lovers in Lucknow

Rain and bad weather couldn’t dissuade book lovers to flock to the ongoing National Book Fair Lucknow underway at Balrampur Gardens. The fest will end on Oct 8.

Rain and bad weather couldn’t dissuade book lovers to flock to the ongoing National Book Fair Lucknow underway at Balrampur Gardens. The cloudy outcast on Sunday gave Lucknowites an opportunity to step out after two days of sporadic rains to be part of the iconic book fair that is back in its full grandeur to celebrate ‘21 book-loving years’. The festival will end on October 6.

The Vani Prakashan stall has a variety of books in different genres and is drawing a lot of buyers(Deep Saxena/HT)

Pouring visitors

“The first two days were little slow due to rains, but the book lovers did turn up as they know books fly off the shelves. So, the FOMO factor drives book lovers. Buyers were able to spend good time at the stalls and get their best picks,” says Manoj Chandel, convenor of the book fair.

Neelansha Choudhary (21), a law student at LU, says, “It’s that time of the year when me and my sister go along with my father to restock our bookshelves. It has become our yearly ritual to attend the fair and forget all other things and be with books. Offers are too tempting to resist, especially if you love collecting books from across the world.”

Books on Awadh

Work on Awadhi culture, food and history is available in abundance at various stalls and are selling well too. Sanjay Arya of Shubhi Publications says, “We have over 20 books on Awadh and they do very well at every festival. Besides, we have books that have Awadhi and food culture and recipes that are a big draw.”

Readers’ delight

Reena Amaan (18), an aspiring medical professional, adds, “Besides magazines and fiction, a variety of competitive examination modules are available too. So, it’s win-win for people like me.”

For real estate entrepreneur Qambar Husain (24), it is the collection that matters. “You name it and they have it. I have found books that were unavailable even online. The kind of collection brought under one roof is exceptional. Even rain couldn’t deter us from coming to the fair with my family. Stalls of food and other items are also installed for the visitors.”

At the culture and performance area, events such as meet the author, open mic and discussions are being organised at regular intervals.

Classics bestsellers

“We have been participating for the last 21 years and every year our sales increase every year. Shayari books are a big hit, not just with elders but with youngsters too, all thanks to the social media reels... Bashir Badr, Munawwar Rana, Nida Fazli, Waseem Bareilvi and Jaun Elia are the favourite choices. Shayari books make 70% of our sales. Then, research students buy lot of stuff. Classics remain evergreen. Last year, we sold 100 copies of Dharamvir Bharati’s novel Gunahon Ka Devta (1949),” says Atul Maheshwari representative of Vani Prakashan.

Chandel adds, “English fiction remained evergreen, but classic Hindi literature books are the bestseller even this year.”

BookTale comes to town

Being hosted at the sprawling Awadh Shilpgram, Amar Shaheed Path, one can be part of the celebration of books, creativity and the love for reading. This year’s book fair offers visitors a chance to participate in the ‘pay for the box, not for the books’ initiative. With this concept, book lovers can choose between two box sizes — the Mini Box or the Biggie Box — and fill the box with as many books as they can, from a vast range of genres and titles.