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The recent thaw in India-Pakistan relations reflects in the World Book Fair beginning this Saturday in New Delhi. Six participants from across the border are coming this time. SANGEETA BAROOAH PISHAROTY reports.
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MANY MIGHT know that UNESCO has stamped Delhi as the World Book Capital for the term 2003-2004. And, holding the 16th New Delhi World Book Fair beginning this Saturday, the organisers, the National Book Trust, term it as a fitting event to complement such an international tag. But what perhaps gives the finishing touch to it is the confirmation sent out to six participants from different cities of Pakistan in the biennial event this time unlike the last fair.
"Though we received applications of participants from Pakistan in the 2002 World Book Fair in Delhi, they failed to get their visas. This time, however, six participants from across the border would be present in the biennial event," NBT's Deputy Director, Exhibitions, Ravi Rajpal says. Obviously, a result of the cause, the present thaw in the India-Pakistan bilateral ties, Rajpal underlines.
"There were two participants from Karachi in the 2000 fair, the Indus Publications and Oxford University Press. They both would be here this time too for the nine-day fair," adds the official. Besides the two, the names given are Malik Book Depot and Pakistan Publishers and Booksellers Association from Lahore, Royal Book Company from Karachi and National Book Publishers from Islamabad.
Generally considered a fair that leads to many an exchange of translation, co-publishing and copyright, sales etc than the annual Delhi Book Fair, which witnesses more of individual buyers and less of trading, Rajpal hopes that books by Pakistani authors come on to book lovers this side of the sub-continent through reprint rights etc. Since the entry to the fair is free, a good percentage of general public is expected along with booksellers and publishers. The 2002 fair, he quotes, attracted an estimated 6.5lakh people to it to check an offering by 1,065 participants from 23 countries. This year, though the number of participants has increased to touch 1,217, the participating countries have scaled down to 17. Though publishers from Bangladesh were expected, the organisers maintain that the fortnight-long Dacca Book Fair last month might have worked against the possibility.
"As far as domestic participants are concerned, we have publishers from almost every State. They account for more than 50 per cent of those taking part in it," Rajpal informs. Understandably so when the country, which perhaps is the only one to publish books in 24 languages, rolls out more than 70,000 new titles each year.
The NBT will fill up six stalls each in two halls at the venue, Pragati Maidan. The fair theme being India's contribution to World Civilisation in the field of Science and Technology, it will have a separate stall to signify it apart from seminars including one on "Dialogue Among Civilisations" with speakers coming all the way from New York and London.
Apart from others, the fair time might not be so fair for students with various examinations round the corner, but what Rajpal emphasizes on is the mandatory ten per cent discount.
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