Lucknow: On the lines of the World Book Fair, which is organised every year at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi, Lucknow Book Fair is underway at Ravindralaya lawns in Charbagh — attracting book lovers in droves. It is attracting people not only from the city, but also from the areas around the Uttar Pradesh capital.

What is noticeable here is the readers’ interest in books on women, Dalits and social science. The Bahujan Sahitya (Stall no 32) is buzzing with the visitors, making it difficult for the stall manager, Sunil Kumar Gautam, to spare time for speaking to visitors. 

He was hoping to extricate himself on the second last day of the fair, but the public holiday (Second Saturday) on March 9 contributed to further swelling of the crowd.

“The bestselling book at the stall is ‘Gulamgiri’ by Jyotiba Phule followed by the hindi edition of the ‘Biography of Dr Ambedkar’ by Dhananjay Keer. In English, ‘Waiting for a Visa’ — an autobiographical document written by Dr Ambedkar — is also among the most popular books at the stall,” Gautam, who also runs a shop named the Bahujan Sahitya Kendra at Lucknow’s Matiyari Chauraha, told The Mooknayak.

A visitor of the book fair, Saroj, who works with the UPPCL (Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited), had just bought a copy of the ‘Waiting for Visa’.

“Despite the advent of devices such as the Kindle (which enable users to browse, buy, download and read e-books, newspapers, magazines and other digital media via wireless networking), hard copies are still the best medium to read books,” she said. 

She, however, rued that most of the people have the habit of collecting books, but they don’t take out time to go through them.

The stall also has merchandise related to the Ambedkarite ideology, be it a replica of the Ashoka Pillar or key rings with Ashoka Chakra and Ambedkar’s images. These items, Gautam said, are now completely sold out. “People these days proudly carry these items, showcasing the image of Ambedkar and slogan of Jai Bhim, to proudly assert their identity,” he said.

Ravi Kant, another visitor from Hapur in western Uttar Pradesh who has recently joined the UP Secretariat in the city as a review officer, said the holiday let him visit the fair. “I purchased a book titled ‘Jati ka Beejnash’ as I have heard a lot about it,” he said.

It’s Hindi translation of the ‘Annihilation of Caste’ by Dr Ambedkar. Released in 1936, it was the best selling book of its times, a great feat when the literacy rate in the country was not even 10%, as per the 1931 Census, and English was a far lesser known language.

Publishers are conspicuous by the absence in the book stalls as most of the counters have been set up by book stores from Lucknow, Delhi, etc.

The Publication Division of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has also set up a stall there, but it did not have any Ambedkarite literature to offer to its visitors. 

When asked about the same, the employees, who are incharge of the stall, began confirming from each other if they have Ambedkar. “There were  some copies devoted to him under the ‘Builders of Modern India’ series, but they have been sold out,” one of them told The Mooknayak.

A book with Ambedkar at its cover draws one’s attention at the stall of the National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language.

The book titled ‘Dastoor e Hind Ka Memar’ has been authored by Khwaja Abdul Muntaqueem — an academician and a writer. 

The book fair, which began from March 2, will come to a close on March 10.

Analysing the reader’s taste, Amod Maheshwari, executive director of the Rajkamal Prakashan, a leading publisher of Hindi as well as English literature, said that there has been a rise in the sales of books related to the issues of women, Dalits and social science etc.

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