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KOLKATA BOOK FAIR 2005
The Kolkata Book Fair recently celebrated its 30th
year of existence. The Fair was organized jointly by the Publishers and
Booksellers Guild, and the Government of West Bengal at the Kolkata Maidan from 26 January to 6
February 2005. It was attended by international publishers from
several countries. Besides the World Health Organization, the Fair was
attended by the World Bank, and the Union of Europe. The Kolkata Book Fair has been recognized by the
International Publishers Association, Geneva as the second biggest fair after
the Frankfurt Book Fair of Germany, in terms of book sales and attendance.
The Fair was inaugurated by the
French author, Mr Daniel Pennac.
Mr Pennac appreciated the
models of the EiffelTower
and the Louvre Pyramid
displayed at the Fair. “I wondered whether I was in Kolkata after looking at the structures. Only you
can have the humour and
imagination to create such life-like structures. Just as Dublin is associated with James Joyce
and Paris with Victor Hugo, Kolkata is associated with Rabindranath Tagore and Satyajit Ray,” Mr Pennac
remarked.
For the first time in the history
of the Kolkata Book Fair,
the Centre for International Business was
established at the ground itself. At this Centre,
Indian publishers could interact with foreign publishing houses through the
internet and other electronic communication systems.
The Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee
pointed out that in the last few years, the works of most French authors had
been translated into Bengali. However, he decried the growth of consumerism
in the country. “There is a debate on whether books will survive the
onslaught of the internet. We need the internet but books will prevail
particularly at a time when corporates
are flooding the television with commercials that promote consumerism. I have
nothing against these corporates
as we need them to come to our State, but young minds are being polluted.
They are being taught to forget everything else and enjoy only luxuries like
fast motorcycles and flashy cars. It is during such times that books play an
important role. It is good that the book fair culture is spreading to the
districts,” Mr Bhattacharjee
added.
The WHO stand located at a
vantage position in the Foreign Complex attracted a large number of visitors
who showed keen interest in WHO information products. The latest WHO
publications, documents and CD-ROMs in the field of health and allied
sciences were displayed. The publications were displayed under broad subject
headings with a view to facilitate the visitors to browse all the related
subjects at a glance under the main subject.
The French Ambassador, Mr
Dominique Girard, the Chief Minister, Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee
and Mr Kalyan Shah, President,
Publishers and Booksellers Guild along with other national dignitaries
visited the WHO stand. The distinguished visitors were briefed about WHO’s publishing programme in the field of
health and allied sciences. WHO publications are available at specially-reduced
rates in developing countries to enable wide dissemination of information, as
well as to increase awareness among the general public and health
professionals in the South-East Asia Region. In addition, it was also
explained that WHO encouraged the translation and reprinting of its
publications in regional languages by way of offering translation and reprint
rights to publishers in the Region. The dignitaries were presented with a few
WHO publications which were highly appreciated.
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