The 24th edition of the Guwahati Book Fair commenced on April 3, 2010 albeit in its new avatar at the sleek and majestic Maniram Dewan Trade Centre (MDTC).
Having grown up to the annual homecoming of the fair being held in its traditional venue the Judge's Field, the change of location did made me flinch a bit but mostly it threw me in a wave of nostalgia. For decades, arrival of the Book Fair at Judge's Field always created a buzz and excitement in the heart of Guwahatians and was a must see in its itinerary.
Primarily, Judge's Field ease of accessibility with it being located in the heart of the city and I guess Guwahati bereft of recreation centre in its heydays, the book fair always captured the imagination of the masses. It was a place where school goers to college goers met, where romances blossomed, where family bonds strengthened. But I guess all good things must come to an end and as they say change is the only constant.
Even though the Govt. had received some flak and criticism from general public and publishers in view of the MDTC's odd location in the outskirts of the city, I for one welcome the govt. stand.
In spite of the Book Fair being held in Judge's Field for more than two decades, it has not evolved much towards it real mission of building excitement about books towards the masses. I honestly feel, Guwahati and Guwahatians deserve a more professionally managed fair in the lines of Jaipur Book Festival where book enthusiasts had the opportunity to see, listen and even interact with world renown authors. MDTC has the requisite infrastructure, environs etc to arrange international festivals and also attract renown publishers and authors.
Some other pluses I would like to quote which is as stated below:
In this terrible hot, humid and soggy conditions, it is a welcome relief in the AC environs of MDTC as opposed to the dusty environ in Judge's field.
With a good public addressing system, it is unlikely you can lose your love or dear ones quite unlike the norm it used to be Judge Field. Although some old timers argue, it is the charm of being in a typical Indian fair. If your pockets had not been picked or if you ain't lost a family member, you haven’t experienced a real fair..... Now, now, now, I don't know whether I am glad or happy.
No longer one need to suppress one's bowel movement as the centre is well equipped with modern loo facilities. Now that's progress. I for one hate this annoying Indian habit of pissing on walls and sidewalks. Nevertheless, I do have a major complaint with the design and architecture of the men's room. Unless the main entrance door does not remain close (it cannot with people walking in and out) the stand up loos are completely visible from outside. Now why, why, why this gross travesty of injustice to the male species? Can't a man relieve oneself in dignity and peace? This is also the same story with the men's loo in District library.
I would also like to highlight some major negatives with this ongoing Book Fair in MTDC.
The makeshift canteen on the backyard of MDTC comes straight from a horror story. From the sleek environs of MDTC, it is a terrible low down visiting the canteen. It is quite likely the canteen management feels hygiene is a rocket science and hence cleanliness does not warrant much attention. With swarms of flies hovering on food stuff, the only one to savor the flies moment of glory would be an entomologist and not helpless citizen. I hope someone put the canteen out of commission.
Finally the major hitch and the resultant lukewarm response is essentially because of the haphazard and unfriendly transport system. It is unfortunate to hear the govt. had a fleet of high capacity buses in cold storage and the buses are yet to see the light of the day owing to clashes of ego between the ministries controlling the ASTC and GMDA with regards to its ownership. Once again the loser here are the citizens. I pray the ministries come to an amicable solution swiftly and give a respite to its citizen.
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