Book fair receives strong footfall, drives sales & student engagement

Vijayapura: At a time when book fairs are largely confined to state capitals, a five-day Buddha, Basava and Ambedkar book fair held to mark Ambedkar Jayanti drew a good response in the tier-3 city of Vijayapura.It concluded on Tuesday with a procession of hundreds of children reading the Preamble to the Constitution of India from Ambedkar Circle to Darbar High School ground, where the fair was organised.Anil Hosamani and Basavaraj Sulibhavi, key organisers of the fair, told TOI that it was organised jointly by May Sahitya Mela Vijayapura Balaga and Dalit and other progressive organisations from April 10 to 14. "As many as 35 stalls of 30 publishers were set up and books worth Rs 25 lakh were sold in five days. Visitors were from all age groups, but a majority of them were between 25 and 45 years. It is a good sign that youth are reading progressive books. Though the fair attracted city people, visitors from rural areas also made it to the ground and glanced at or bought books of their choice," they added.A staff member at the stall of Dr MM Kalburgi Adhyayana Samsthe, Tontadarya Math, Gadag, said that the demand for books related to Sharana literature, Ambedkar's articles, Buddha philosophies was more at the fair. Another staff member at Ladai Prakashan said that rational books were in demand rather than fiction. "Since it was an occasion to listen to sessions and buy books, many visitors bought books after inspiration from experts' talks in sessions," they noted.Y Mehaboob, Sushma Pawar, Jyothi Sontannavar and other students from different colleges and universities of the region said that the fair had given a good assignment to students to read a book and speak about the same in the evening session. "We could read books on Jyotiba Phule, Ambedkar, Basavanna, Buddha, Gandhi and other social reformers in detail to finish this task," they shared.Dakshayini Huded, member, Kannada Development Authority, observed that though the fair was planned to mark Ambedkar Jayanti, it attracted non-Dalit readers more. "It proved that we should carry Buddha-Basava-Ambedkar together," she commented.Dalit Panthers founder JV Pawar from Mumbai, Belagavi regional commissioner KM Janaki, Women's University VC Vijaya Korishetti, KAS officer Somalinga Gennur, research scholar Krishna Kolhar Kulkarni, retired judge Vasant Mulasavalagi, many officials, politicians, doctors, advocates, teachers, writers, activists participated in the event either as guests or audience members.Convention of intercaste couples, poetry recital, cultural programmes and procession of vachana bundles were other attractions of the book fair.