Kolkata Book Fair: Leafing Through The Pages In The Era Of E-readers
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Retaining some old-world fantasies is a huge challenge when technology is out to provide modern-day comforts at your fingertips. Conservatives would swear by books and would hate to replace them with any convenient gadget as they become ecstatic… feeling the books, leafing through the pages, breathing in the typical smell of the printed pages – be they old or new. Innovations can’t make its way through some innate things and these things only intensify with time. But the pain point is either you are born with some kind of antenna to experience such bounties of life or you are just plain unlucky. Like the intellectualism of the Bengalis and also their In actual terms,
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By now, readers must be feeling curious about the hottest selling books at the event. The 38th edition of the book fair was inaugurated this year by none other than
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Yet, all might not be well at this global gathering of great minds. Just as it happened at the Jaipur Literary Festival two years ago,
It was said at that time that Rushdie himself had decided to stay away from the event. The author, however, had reportedly told he was informed by the government that the protests against him could be ‘dangerous.’ Photos, too, had swarmed the Internet, featuring hundreds of men brandishing placards that said ‘Rushdie Go Back.’
It’s understood that Mamata, who was touring North Bengal at that time, had told the police commissioner she didn’t want Rushdie to land in the city. And the reason was obvious – she didn’t want to antagonise the minority community if she could help it.
The whole drama of not hosting Rushdie was played out in many shades and across many episodes. When finally it was learnt that Mamata was completely against Rushdie’s participation at the book fair, the grave concerns around his security and the gravity of the situation (with the number of protestors increasing every day) were conveniently played up to persons in charge of Rushdie’s itinerary. Then the easy way rolled out by itself. The statement issued to the media read: The ‘author decided to stay out of the event’ for reasons known to him. And Mamata had won her game.
This way, the world’s largest book fair held a mirror to India’s so-called democratic values and assured
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Image: Thinkstock Photos/Getty Images
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