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New Delhi

World Book Fair opens

Staff Reporter

The major attraction is presentation by Russian publishers

A special pavilion for works on the Mahatma
Books is a romance, says writer Ananthamurthy

NEW DELHI: Showcasing, among others, books on and by Mahatma Gandhi as a tribute to the Father of the Nation on his 60th death anniversary, the 18th New Delhi World Book Fair got under way at Pragati Maidan here on Saturday. With 1,342 participants, the Fair is aimed at inculcating reading habit and disseminating knowledge among young minds.

As Union Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh, who was supposed to inaugurate the eight-day fair, could not make it to the function, his address was read out by Special Secretary (Higher Education) K. M. Acharya. Mr. Singh in his message said he was “happy to learn that the fair has put up a special pavilion dedicated to the works on and by Mahatma Gandhi as homage to the Father of the Nation” and hoped that it “will bring greater focus on Gandhian literature as in these dark times of aggression, terror, suspicion and intolerance, it is perhaps only the timeless vision of Mahatma Gandhi that keep showing us a path of hope, love and reconciliation as an unfailing beacon.”

Speaking on the occasion, National Research Professor C. N. R. Rao, who was the guest of honour, described a book as the culmination of an author’s creative thinking and spirit of adventure.

“There is no product of human creativity that is as satisfying as a book. Earlier, people had predicted that computers, laptops and PCs would ensure than nobody would read from printed material. After becoming President of the United States, Bill Clinton constituted a committee to look into the influence of laptop on the printing industry. The committee predicted that the use of paper would come down in the next five years. But after the given period of time it was found that there was a 300 per cent increase in the production of paper. This is nature’s revenge on humans,” said Prof. Rao.

Describing the book as a romance, eminent writer U.R. Ananthamurthy said: “In Philadelphia I was rummaging for an old second hand book. The book was described by Mahatma Gandhi as a gutter inspector’s report. If I was intolerant I could not have read Ms. Mayo’s book. I could read her with humour as I could understand what a Christian missionary thinks about India.”

Mr. Ananthamurthy also urged the United Progressive Alliance Government at the Centre to treat all languages, particularly the tribal ones, equally.

Informing that Russia with its 80 publishers was presenting its exposition at the Fair as the guest of honour, Andrey Romenchenko, Deputy Head of the Federal Agency for Press and Mass Communication, Russia, said: “We believe that there is a deep sense of satisfaction in the fact that priority is given to Russian books. The year 2008 has been announced as the Year of Russia in India.”

Pointing out that Indo-Russian book ties have a longstanding tradition, Mr. Romenchenko said outstanding pieces of Indian literature like Panchatantra, Mahabharata, Ramayana, Rigveda and books by Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore were being published in Russia. “There is also a variety of books on Indian philosophy in the Russian book market. Russian readers are familiar with books by Vivekananda, Krishnamurti and Deepak Chopra. In turn, Indians have showed great interest in books by Pushkin, Dostoevsky and Leo Tolstoy.”

Noting that Mahatma Gandhi was influenced by Leo Tolstoy, Mr. Romenchenko said: “Gandhi in his autobiography wrote that in his youth he was deeply impressed by Tolstoy’s books and deep thinking and that deep morality and sincerity of his book ‘The God’s Kingdom is Inside us’ was imprinted in his mind.” The Book Fair will be on up to this coming Sunday.

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