Wear the Old Coat and Buy the New Book. This Adage has been rightly connoted by Austin Phelps. Books have always been an individuals best friend and will always be. With the advent of this Electronic Media and a totally revolutionized Tech-Savvy generation , the importance of paper books have dwindled away slowly but I still believe reading a book with a cup of coffee has its own charm. I am a voracious reader and to me shopping for books and food is equivalent to shopping for dresses and sandals to any pretty lady.
Last Saturday I went to the 18th National Book Fair at Delhi held in Pragati Maidan. Armed with my laptop bag to fill in my share of new books and a bottle of water , I moved to the the ticket counter with utter bliss and joy. The ticket fare was extremely reasonable - Rs. 10 for students and Rs. 20 for adults.After passing the security check I followed the clutch of twenty and we all hoped in an A.C. Bus which was there to drop the Book Lovers to their ultimate destination .
As soon as I got down from the Bus , I looked around for a second to see the wonderful decoration of the venue. Large Flexes and Banners were put to help people by giving a brief introduction about each hall and that was the twist- Fares in Delhi are actually put in those giant halls of Pragati Maidan where each hall had its special collection of books from kids to teenagers , from adults to older people.
Each step taken forward took me back in my childhood days where my sister and I used to eagerly wait for the book fare of Patna not only to buy those brand new books but also to have those yummy caramel popcorns , pink and white candy flosses and a can of Pepsi ( Pepsi was not easily available to kids during those days and was available only during some special occasions).
My nostalgias took a backseat when I reached hall number 10 and saw a wonderful scenario. A big board was placed at some stall which read Buy any for 50 and below it were hundreds of books arranged loosely. From one side Jeffrey Archer was arresting my attention while at the other end Charles Dickens was virtually pulling my wrist to grab his copy and to make both of them and most importantly me happy I brought a copy of both the books and marched ahead with some weight on my shoulders. Moving further , I even got a collection of short stories for just Rs. 20 as the Times Of India were selling it as a promotional material. The book actually costs Rs.150. I also went to my favorite Cookery Books stall and bought myself a copy of Neeta Mehta as well as Sanjeev Kapoor to explore more about food.
While moving from one hall to another , I notice that there well many Flexes for a particular room - room Number 12 A. I wondered what was so special about this hall and went ahead to see it and I was totally amazed to see it. Throughout my life I had seen Automobiles Expo , Gadgets display to even Fruit stalls but this was a total different concept - A Big giant hall all booked for Stationeries. I realized " Thats why they call Delhi the Capital of the Second most Populous country".
I started from one corner of the stall and moved to the other. There were thousand varieties of pens to buy from different companies. I saw a beautiful jeweled vintage pen at a higher platform which was guarding its other subordinate pens like a King and just below it was a smaller pen bedecked with some diamonds shying like the Queen of the Writing Empire.
My eyes fell on a Hand paper stall which had large Hand made sheets in rolls as well as different products made from it like Handbags , cards , envelopes to even a lamp which stole hearts of many and the price again reasonable from Rs.100 to Rs.200.From this hall I got a white Hand made sheet for my Madhubani Painting and some writing pads to scribble on.
There was even an area made by Sai Baba devotees which had a large tree with many flag and books of Sai Baba in the Hall.
When Sai Baba Devotees had such a gallant show then how could the Sikhs lag behind! Even they had their own stall with people in white clothes with a handkerchief tied on their head selling books and distributing their devotion towards the Almighty with pamphlets.
This visit lasted for about good Five hours when suddenly my phone rang and got that very common Mother's coming home Ultimatum . Relieving both Childhood in Adulthood, I got myself a can of Pepsi along with a packet of salted popcorn and took the metro and reached home with a complete satisfaction and excitement .
Last Saturday I went to the 18th National Book Fair at Delhi held in Pragati Maidan. Armed with my laptop bag to fill in my share of new books and a bottle of water , I moved to the the ticket counter with utter bliss and joy. The ticket fare was extremely reasonable - Rs. 10 for students and Rs. 20 for adults.After passing the security check I followed the clutch of twenty and we all hoped in an A.C. Bus which was there to drop the Book Lovers to their ultimate destination .
As soon as I got down from the Bus , I looked around for a second to see the wonderful decoration of the venue. Large Flexes and Banners were put to help people by giving a brief introduction about each hall and that was the twist- Fares in Delhi are actually put in those giant halls of Pragati Maidan where each hall had its special collection of books from kids to teenagers , from adults to older people.
Each step taken forward took me back in my childhood days where my sister and I used to eagerly wait for the book fare of Patna not only to buy those brand new books but also to have those yummy caramel popcorns , pink and white candy flosses and a can of Pepsi ( Pepsi was not easily available to kids during those days and was available only during some special occasions).
My nostalgias took a backseat when I reached hall number 10 and saw a wonderful scenario. A big board was placed at some stall which read Buy any for 50 and below it were hundreds of books arranged loosely. From one side Jeffrey Archer was arresting my attention while at the other end Charles Dickens was virtually pulling my wrist to grab his copy and to make both of them and most importantly me happy I brought a copy of both the books and marched ahead with some weight on my shoulders. Moving further , I even got a collection of short stories for just Rs. 20 as the Times Of India were selling it as a promotional material. The book actually costs Rs.150. I also went to my favorite Cookery Books stall and bought myself a copy of Neeta Mehta as well as Sanjeev Kapoor to explore more about food.
While moving from one hall to another , I notice that there well many Flexes for a particular room - room Number 12 A. I wondered what was so special about this hall and went ahead to see it and I was totally amazed to see it. Throughout my life I had seen Automobiles Expo , Gadgets display to even Fruit stalls but this was a total different concept - A Big giant hall all booked for Stationeries. I realized " Thats why they call Delhi the Capital of the Second most Populous country".
I started from one corner of the stall and moved to the other. There were thousand varieties of pens to buy from different companies. I saw a beautiful jeweled vintage pen at a higher platform which was guarding its other subordinate pens like a King and just below it was a smaller pen bedecked with some diamonds shying like the Queen of the Writing Empire.
My eyes fell on a Hand paper stall which had large Hand made sheets in rolls as well as different products made from it like Handbags , cards , envelopes to even a lamp which stole hearts of many and the price again reasonable from Rs.100 to Rs.200.From this hall I got a white Hand made sheet for my Madhubani Painting and some writing pads to scribble on.
There was even an area made by Sai Baba devotees which had a large tree with many flag and books of Sai Baba in the Hall.
When Sai Baba Devotees had such a gallant show then how could the Sikhs lag behind! Even they had their own stall with people in white clothes with a handkerchief tied on their head selling books and distributing their devotion towards the Almighty with pamphlets.
This visit lasted for about good Five hours when suddenly my phone rang and got that very common Mother's coming home Ultimatum . Relieving both Childhood in Adulthood, I got myself a can of Pepsi along with a packet of salted popcorn and took the metro and reached home with a complete satisfaction and excitement .
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