Pahela Falgun adds colour to Ekushey book fair
Ekushey book fair turned a meeting place for hundreds of people on Tuesday as they grabbed the opportunity of celebrating Pahela Falgun, the first day of spring in Bangla calendar, there on Tuesday.
The book fair remained open from 11:00am and scheduled to close at 9:00pm with 1590 new books hitting the fair till 12th day.
UNB talked to writers, publishers and visitors who came to visit and buy the books.
Since the beginning, long queues built up in front of every entry point like any weekend days. Most of the visitors were young people and teenagers donning colourful attires.
The salesmen of different book stores were found busy as they were struggling to manage the huge crowd on the occasion.
Readers were found buying poetry books in great numbers. Sellers said books on science fiction and fiction are on high demands too.
Travelogue writer Shakoor Majid told UNB that he had visited the fair today particularly to celebrate the Pahela Falgun as well. "In the presence of so many digital devices, we will miss the traditional way of writing. I still feel comfortable to write traditionally than digitally." He said.
There is also a lack of depth in many of present day writings, he added.
Moushumi Akter, a student of Jagannath University was seen visiting the book fair with a group of friends wearing festive attires.
Moushumi said, "February is the month of emotion for us. In one side, we have our traditional festival Pahela Falgun. On the other hand, we have 21 February, the International Mother Language Day."
"Both of the days have a connection with our emotion," she said adding that, while visiting the Dhaka University campus with friends to celebrate the occasion, they came to the fair to pay a visit.
A discussion on 'safe environment and surrounding for the women' was held with Khushi Kabir presenting the keynote speech at the fair venue today. Sultana Kamal, Hosne Ara, Subhash Shingha Roy, and Nurunnahar discussed the event with Ayesha Khanom in the chair.
There are strict security arrangements in and around the book fair venue to avert any unpleasant incident during the fair.
A newly launched website and apps provide the information about the fair while publishers from across the country are displaying a number of books on different issues. Bangla Academy is exhibiting some 141 newly printed and reprinted books.
Awards in different categories will be handed over to the publishing houses on the closing day of the book fair.