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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 <keyword id="2052955" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Love-for-books">love for books</keyword>! How else would you explain the sheer addiction to books, books and more books and yet the event draws more than 2.5 million <keyword id="456096" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Book-lovers">book lovers</keyword> every year? 
 <keyword id="100667" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Kolkata-book-fair">Kolkata Book Fair</keyword> is now well into its late 30s (<keyword id="793067" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="KBF">KBF</keyword> celebrated its 38th birthday this year) and witnessed huge crowds milling around the stalls, set up by about 109 publishing houses operating in India. The book fair was a 13-day affair this time – from the inauguration on January 28 to the closing ceremony on February 9. Interestingly, KBF is the world’s <keyword id="2052986" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Largest-non-trade-book-fair">largest non-trade book fair</keyword>, which means it essentially caters to the general public, instead of wholesalers. So it’s no wonder that the who’s who of the Indian and global literati are mostly here at the plenary sessions. <keyword id="6360497" type="COUNTRY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Peru">Peru</keyword> was the theme country of 2014 but Peruvian poet <keyword id="2052952" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Rodolfo-Hinostroza">Rodolfo Hinostroza</keyword> and Peru’s cultural minister <keyword id="2033619" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Patricia-Balbuena-Palacios">Patricia Balbuena Palacios</keyword>, who were to inaugurate the event, could not attend the <keyword id="6363379" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="Opening-ceremony">opening ceremony</keyword> following the political situation at home. 
 In actual terms, <keyword id="6357783" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="West-Bengal">West Bengal</keyword> is one of those states in India which has a high concentration of <keyword id="54033" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Scholars">scholars</keyword>, <keyword id="6498302" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Academicians">academicians</keyword> and <keyword id="105357" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Intellectuals">intellectuals</keyword>. As social movements are often fuelled by the litterateurs and <keyword id="60303" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Leftist">Leftist</keyword> overtones exist there among the so-called intellectuals, it could have been the prime reason why <keyword id="6354925" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Kolkata">Kolkata</keyword> Book Fair has remained a non-trade affair throughout these years. 
 Organised by <keyword id="2052951" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Kolkata-Publishers-and-Booksellers-Guild">Kolkata Publishers and Booksellers Guild</keyword> and largely supported by book lovers, the annual event had some tough times when <keyword id="26497" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="environmental-issues">environmental issues</keyword> compelled it to leave the Maidan greens (near Park Street-Rabindra Sadan) at the centre of the city. The fair was shifted from the Maidan area in 2007 and finally found a home at the <keyword id="532071" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Milan-Mela-ground">Milan Mela ground</keyword> opposite Science City. 
 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 <keyword id="670521" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Chief-minister-Mamata-Banerjee">Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee</keyword> and (believe it or not) her books turned out to be best-sellers even this year. A <keyword id="2052958" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="regular-writer-and-a-poet">regular writer and a poet</keyword>, Mamata started writing in 1995 and has penned 45 books so far. Last year, her books worth Rs 10 lakh were sold, earning her a royalty of Rs 1 lakh. This year, the sales are supposed to shoot up even further as new books penned by her had been released on the inauguration day. 
 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, <keyword id="25391" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Salman-Rushdie">Salman Rushdie</keyword> was stopped from participating at the Kolkata Book Fair last year. And do you know the irony of it all? It’s the <keyword id="2052997" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Author-CM">author-CM</keyword> who might have played a key role and stopped the internationally acclaimed but equally controversial Rushdie from coming to the event. 
 
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 <keyword id="60937" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Fundamental-rights">fundamental rights</keyword>. But never mind. <keyword id="5258" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="CM">CM</keyword> Mamata’s books have turned her into a literary sensation over the years. And it’s quite an indicator how the scale is tipping in the <keyword id="2053000" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="World-of-literature">world of literature</keyword>. 
 
Image: Thinkstock Photos/Getty Images

Kolkata
Book Fair: Leafing Through The Pages In The Era Of E-readers

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Chinese state media hit back at criticism of a busy music festival at a water park in the city of <keyword id="208994" type="CITY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Wuhan">Wuhan</keyword>, the original epicenter of the <keyword id="1754604" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="coronavirus">coronavirus</keyword> outbreak.</li><li>The <keyword id="107898" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Global-Times">Global Times</keyword> outlet called the reactions "sour grapes" and took the chance to celebrate the apparent success of Wuhan's lockdown.</li><li>Wuhan went under the world's first coronavirus lockdown — and also one of its strictest.</li><li>Hubei — the region where Wuhan is the capital — has not recorded any domestically transmitted cases since mid-May.</li><li>Most countries that have largely controlled their outbreaks still insist on face coverings and social distancing, both of which were absent in footage from the party.</li></ul>Chinese state media dismissed foreign social-media criticism of a massive party in the city of Wuhan as "sour grapes" from places unable to get their COVID-19 outbreaks under control.Thousands gathered in a water park in the city for an electronic music festival over the weekend, with photos of the event showing closely packed crowds and no face coverings.The event received global media attention, with some reports <a href="https://nypost.com/2020/08/17/shocking-images-show-packed-wuhan-pool-party-in-former-coronavirus-ground-zero/?utm_medium=SocialFlow&amp;utm_source=NYPTwitter&amp;utm_campaign=SocialFlowcialFlow">calling the images "shocking"</a> and <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2020/08/18/asia/wuhan-water-park-party-intl-hnk/index.html">noting the lack of distancing</a>.Social-media users compared the scenes with the starkly different situation in many other nations, with even countries that have got their coronavirus outbreaks under control still banning large gatherings while also enforcing other measures meant to limit infection.The <a href="https://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1198239.shtml">Global Times</a>, a combative tabloid controlled by the Chinese state, noted the criticism and pushed back.<div type="image" title="wuhan pool party" height="2000" width="3000" msid="77656457" hostid="261"></div>It said the reaction "exposed overseas 'sour grapes' and also prompted some to reflect on epidemic control in their own countries."And it countered that many viewed the party as a sign Wuhan's lockdown and other steps to control the virus had worked, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/wuhans-mask-less-pool-party-reopening-covid-concert-lockdown-2020-8">allowing things to return closer to normal there</a>.Chinese authorities say there have been no domestically transmitted cases of the coronavirus in Hubei, the province of which Wuhan is the capital, since mid-May.<div type="image" title="wuhan pool party 3 august 15 2020" height="2000" width="3000" msid="77656463" hostid="261"></div>Some people highlighted the contrast between life in Wuhan and much of the rest of the world, while others appeared angry that the city where the virus was first recorded was experiencing normality.Wuhan was the first place to record cases of the novel coronavirus, the virus that causes COVID-19. It was the first city in the world to be put under lockdown in an attempt to stop the virus' spread.The city's 11 million residents were put into an unprecedented 76-day lockdown that ended April 7. The lockdown was one of the strictest implemented anywhere in the world, with people mostly required to stay in their homes.Wuhan has not gone back into a full lockdown since, and normal life has largely resumed. But it has recorded localized outbreaks that meant some restrictions were introduced and some areas were locked down again.<div type="image" title="China wuhan coronavirus" height="2000" width="3000" msid="77656465" hostid="261"></div>Wuhan's lockdown began when only a handful of countries had recorded their first coronavirus cases, and there were few signs the virus would result in a pandemic.By the time Wuhan's lockdown was lifted, many countries had started to battle devastating outbreaks and were under lockdown themselves.

China's state media says angry reactions to a packed water party in Wuhan are 'sour grapes'

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Kolkata Book Fair: Leafing Through The Pages In The Era Of E-readers

Preetam Kaushik

China's state media says angry reactions to a packed water party in Wuhan are 'sour grapes'

Sinéad Baker

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