Book fair a literary feast for readers in Amritsar

Neha Saini

Amritsar, June 13

Turning a shopping mall into a bustling reading place, Kitablovers, a bookselling platform in collaboration with publishing house Rajpal & Sons, has organised the first ever morning-to-night book fair in Amritsar at the VR Ambarsar Mall. Amritsar has a strong history and tradition of reading and writing but there are not many book cafes, libraries and shops to meet that demand. The fair has set up an engaging library, with books in English and Hindi. The readers have a choice to pick some of the bestselling authors from India and abroad, ranging from JK Rowling to Harivansh Rai Bachchan, as well as books on themes of drama, history and mythology. An interesting aspect of the exhibition is that a special “Load The Box” segment has been created for book lovers, to come and pick a bunch of books packed in a box at affordable prices. “The customers, who visit the fair, can make a one-time payment and fill the box with

as many books as the box can hold. The boxes are available in three sizes, ranging from Rs 1,200 to Rs 3,000,” said Subhash Jediya, representative from Rajpal and Sons.

There is also a separate segment of literature from the region and poetry, a genre that has always managed to woo Amritsar readers. The line-up includes Rumi, Ghalib, Sahir Ludhianvi, Momin, Allama Iqbal, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Firaq Gorakhpuri and others. If that’s not tempting enough, then there is an entire shelf dedicated to Kalajeyi Kavi series, with literature by Kabir, Surdas, Tulsidas, Baba Nanak, Bulleh Shah, Meera, Amir Khusro and Rahim. “We have been getting a great response for our Hindi poetry books and it’s an encouragement from a non-Hindi belt. With book reading habit witnessing a decline in the digital age, our attempt is to promote vernacular literature while also considering that we get books that are not easily available. So far, the experience shows that there is a strong reading culture in Amritsar and readers are happy to find a good selection of books,” said Jediya.

It aims to cultivate a vibrant reading community

We are proud to host one of the city’s largest book fair in partnership with Bookforest and Rajpal & Sons. The event aims to cultivate a vibrant reading community and inspire literary enthusiasm among the residents of Amritsar. — Shobhit Raj Srivastava, VR Ambarsar Mall.