Duvindi Illankoon
Each year you expect interest to dwindle, yet you’re proven wrong every single time. On the cards for the 14th successive year, the Colombo International Book Fair shows no sign of slowing down. Neither do the crowds that throng in the hundreds and thousands through the BMICH gates, bags clutched close, anticipating a good two to three hours of pure bookish fun.
Soaking up the atmosphere at the book fair is almost as exciting as the books. Over a million visitors are expected this year in the fair’s eight days, that started on September 18 and ends on September 26. In a country with one of the highest literacy rates in South Asia, this is certainly not a surprising figure. To cater to such a massive influx of buyers, 400 stalls are scattered throughout the BMICH, offering a wide scope of reading and writing material. There are 40 international publishers from India, Singapore, Malaysia, Pakistan, UK, USA, Australia, etc in attendance, an Edex stall where you can donate books, and even stalls that raise awareness (WHO) as well as talks by authors.
Crowds this year are slightly thinner than usual, says veteran bookseller and publisher Vijitha Yapa, Chairman of Vijitha Yapa Bookshop speaking to the Sunday Times on Thursday morning, a time when the fair was less crowded. “But sales are excellent,” he adds, noting that this is probably due to buyers being able to browse at leisure. As the day progresses, the crowds intensify, and in the narrow aisles, the constant pushing of the crowd makes it hard to peruse books at leisure. This is the reason many avid readers choose to forego the wide variety and substantial discounts the book fair offers in favour of the more secluded and personalised service at bookshops.
For this reason, many buyers come with a prepared list of what they intend to buy. “When you know what you want you just make a beeline for it and get out,” smiles Roshana, who is here to buy text books for her upcoming A/L year. One finds that many of these customers come in for the non-fiction, comments a stall owner. “A lot of people buy coffee-table and educational books,” said one sales person.
Of the many that walk in through the gates, not all walk out loaded with books. It is a veritable picnic atmosphere outside-friends and families lounge on the grass, eating Maggi noodles and sipping Coke, checking out the entertainment on offer. You could get your portrait painted, watch street theatre or clap on a crafty puppet dancing to old Hindi tunes-it’s a fair by all definitions.
It’s a social event too. Young couples stroll around holding hands and a group of friends surreptitiously check out a similar group of the opposite sex. Meantime, the universal language of reading brings many together. Kosala and her daughter Vihara are laughing over a novel. They’re here from Galle to shop for Vihara’s school requirements and check out some fiction too. “It’s not easy to manoeuvre through the crowds,” says Kosala. “But this is convenient for people like us because everything is in one place.”
The crowds, the vendors, the entertainment. and of course, the books, all these things add up to one big, fun day out for many- readers or not, it’s one they wouldn’t dream of missing.