[sadhuji]

The Honorable Court has given its verdict – no Boi-mela in the Maidan. The organizers have only themselves to blame for the fiasco and have to accept responsibility of damaging the image of the country in the International arena. The Kolkata Book Fair, fondly called as the Boi-mela by the Kolkattans, enjoys international status and is included in the annual calendar. Since the present location has earned the wrath of the environmentalists, it is now imperative that an alternative venue be selected. It might not be possible to arrange all this within a short period of time but, if the ball is set in motion right now, the next year might see a new location.

The decision of the Honorable Court has disappointed Kolkattans all over – but, the signs were visible for quite sometime. When the environmentalists first objected to the blatant misuse of the open spaces, assurances had been given by the organizers. Unfortunately, no concrete steps were taken; it was presumed that political pressure can be brought to bear so that the merry making can continue without hindrance. But, the extent of destruction of the environment was colossal.

I had the opportunity to be associated with the Boi-mela for three years – in 1993, 1995 and 1996. I have seen the amount of dust that hovers all over the fair grounds. Water was sprayed regularly but, that did not help matters much. Added to that were the innumerable eateries and, the enormous amount of waste in the form of leaflets, polythene bags, thermocol. Moreover, the drainage facilities left a lot to be desired and the public toilets resembled a piece out of hell. Still, the visitors were compelled to accept such surroundings. The net result was total degeneration of the soil – it seems it has become unsuitable for the growth of plain, ordinary grass!

The organizers must now concentrate on readying the alternate location on the EM bypass – it will deprive hundreds of small time publishers and writers because, the stalls would all look alike and attention would be paid to only books. Refreshment stalls would certainly be there but, like multiplexes, these would be isolated and the charges would be prohibitive for the commoners. Those who will visit the new look Boi-mela would long for the togetherness that was the plus point – those will do a vanishing trick. Also, the teams of decorators who took immense pains to construct stalls of different designs would be sighing because the new Boi-mela would comprise of rows of outlets of books by publishers from India and abroad. The one-to-one relationship between the author, the publisher and the readers would be a thing of the past.

[Abhijit Sur]

Chane in venue will not attract crowd. This year I have some trade fair was going on by the side of EM by pass. No rush. Many stalls closed prematuredly. It is of course not convenient to go there from all the places. Only really interested people will go. There will be no floating people. How the food stalls will do business?? Sometimes they sell more than the designated stalls!!

[sadhuji]

Abhijit Sur, on Feb 13 2007, 05:17 PM, said:

How the food stalls will do business?? Sometimes they sell more than the designated stalls!!

yes abhijit - any mela minus fast foods is dull and meaningless.