New Delhi World Book Fair brings Youth Closer to Books
New Delhi World
Book Fair is witnessing the participation of a large number of young readers. They
are browsing through their favourite books and interacting with the authors. Their
interest in books shows that India has a bright future ahead.
10 January is
celebrated as World Hindi Day every year which aims at promoting Hindi language
across the world. New Delhi World Book Fair is also playing a significant role
in promoting the language. Over 240 Hindi publishers from across the country
are exhibiting their books at Hall 12 (A) for the readers. Besides National
Book Trust, India, the other publishers include Bhartiya Jnanpith, Sahitya
Akademi, Hindi Academy Delhi, Central Hindi Directorate, Kabir Gyan Prakashan
Kendra, Geeta Press, Vani Prakashan, Rajkamal Prakashan, Raja Pocket Books, etc.
Theme Pavilion
"Reading
textbooks only, does not inculcate the habit of reading," said Prof. N K
Jangira, NCERT at a discussion held on the topic 'Inculcating Reading Habit
among Children with Special Needs' at Theme Pavilion. It is the supplementary reading material which indeed
helps in developing the habit among children, he added. The other panelists
included Prof. Anupam Ahuja, Department of Education, NCERT and Ms Shantha
Rangarajan, Principal, National Association for the Blind. During the session,
the speakers discussed about the different ways through which children with
special needs can be encouraged to read books. They were of the opinion that
more reading material for children needs to be developed and more efforts are
required to create an environment of inclusive learning. The session was
moderated by Shri Satish Kapoor, Founder Director, We Care and Brotherhood.
Author's Corner
A conversation
with authors, Geeta Shree and Himanshu Bajpai was organised by Storytel at
Author's Corner, Hall no. 8. The session was moderated by Giri Raj Kiradu. During the session Geeta
Shree, read some stories from her newly launched book, Haseenabaad. She announced that her book is being converted into an
audio book as well. Later, Himanshu Bajpai, Urdu author, read one of his famous
stories. Giri Raj Kiradu was of the view that Himanshu is playing a major role
in reviving the Urdu writing culture in our country.
A discussion on
the book, Birds in Delhi, was held at
Author's Corner. The session was organised by Penguin Random House India, in
collaboration with D.K. Publishers. Sanjay Tiwari noted photographer and member
of Delhi Trust Foundation interacted with the author Nikhil Devasar. He said
that the book contains five hundred species of birds; the most common to rarest
of the rare. The book is perfect for any bird lover. It includes every
information one might require - the months in which the birds are available and
migrate, their types and habits, etc. "If you love them, let them
fly" - quoted the writer whole talking about his admiration towards
nature.
At Authors'
Corner, Publications Division organised a discussion on 'Bal Sahitya aur
Gadgets Mein Uljhe Bal Pathak' (Children's Literature and Children's Dependence
on Gadgets). The speakers on the occasion were
Dr. Sachidanand Joshi, Member Secretary of Indira Gandhi National Centre
of Arts (IGNCA); Ms. Sadhna
Raut, Director General, Publications Division; Dr Akhilesh Jha and Ms
Shamima Siddique. On this occasion, several books published by Publications
Division including Bapu Ki Vani, Ved-Gatha, Hamare Samay Mein Upnishad,
Shekhawati Ki Lok Sanskriti, Haar Ki Khushi, Maa Ka Janmdin, Bal Mahabharat,
Children's Vivekanand were launched.
Children's Pavilion
A storytelling
session was held at the Children's
Pavilion in which Sujata Suri interacted with children and narrated stories on
cleanliness and recycling. The session was organised by SNS Foundation,
Pratham, Deep Foundation and Koshish.
Jaishree Sethi,
Storyghar, told the nuances of creating jingles for radio to the children. They
were then asked to create their own jingles. The children came up with a jingle
on the book fair based on a popular Bollywood song, Suno zor se duniya walon, sabse aage hoga apna Book Fair.
During the day,
children also presented skits on 'Jangal Ka Maharaja Kaun,' and 'Paryavaran Sanrakshan.' These skits were
performed by the children from Koshish Special School and Mata Daan Kaur
School, respectively.
