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Time to get hooked

A good book can be a great source of exhilaration. But the bad news is that not many find time these days because the true joy of book reading is lost to television channels, DVDs or game machines.

Your immediate job is to inculcate book-reading among children. Thrust a book in his hand and let him scan the pages for words he recognizes. Who knows, he may soon be piecing together the story and a new interest in reading may spark within no time.

The sermon on book reading is well-timed what with the 20th Vijayawada Book Festival unfolding at Swaraj Maidan. Book-lovers throng the venue to explore the immense joy hidden in books, which are ultimate treasure troves of knowledge. The twin objective of the organisers is also to cultivate the habit of book reading among people by providing them with the opportunity to own a book of their own. With a glorious 20-year-old history to its credit, the annual event has evolved into a jamboree fondly awaited by all sections.

The book fair made a humble beginning a couple of decades ago. Heavy rains lashed the city a day before the scheduled inauguration of the first Vijayawada Book Festival organised by the National Book Trust (NBT) on September 29, 1989. The organisers were clueless as they had little foreseen the trouble from nature. But the festival took off as perfectly as it was planned thanks to the vast support of the book lovers.

“I can vividly recall the water-logged PWD Ground. Nobody, including the municipal engineers, knew where the outlet drain was,” says the then Municipal Commissioner of Vijayawada Rajiv Sharma, who is currently the Director-General of Centre for Good Governance.

After some efforts, the choked drain was located and nearly 200 men were deployed on the job of removing the stagnant water. It took 12 hours before the ground was ready for inauguration of the book festival the next day. Renowned poet Arudra had also graced the occasion.”

In the subsequent year, the Vijayawada Book Festival Society came into existence. The society’s founder secretary and president D. Ashok Kumar recalls: “Deviating from the NBT norm of approving a grant to a society only after its completion of three years, the then NBT director Aravind Kumar sanctioned Rs. 1 lakh to our society. The NBT released grants for the third and the 13th festivals also,” he says.

With an apt theme of ‘Translations for Integration’, the on-going book fair aims at promoting translation of literature from other languages to Telugu and vice versa.

“Unfortunately, we know about non-Indian writers like Tolstoy, while a writer in the neighbourhood languishes in obscurity. The translations will address this problem,” says secretary of the Sahitya Academy Agrahara Krishna Murthy. Not confining to mere literature, the translations must extend to areas like folklore. It will promote national integration as we come to know the culture, tradition and literature of our neighbours,” he reasons out.

“There is a special pavilion for translations works. The society has also brought out a handbook on translations that can be used by future generations for information on translation and reprints of well received books,” says Mr. Ashok Kumar.

The festival is on till January 11.

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