Amar Ekushey Boi Mela
Toons grab attention of visitors
It is a different crowd seen outside the Bangla Academy premises. Unlike visitors busy rummaging around stalls at the Amar Ekushey Boi Mela, it gathers on the road divider near a stall having set up a television screen.
It is a swarm of disadvantaged children laughing, singing, and dancing as they watch nursery rhymes and children's songs playing on the screen. The kids were not taught to read properly. They have been brought up on streets, slums without the nursery songs and rhymes that are synonymous with childhood.
Taking a respite from selling candies, flowers, and other miscellaneous items, some 20-25 children sit in front of the stall of Tonatuni, a publisher of children's books and videos, to enjoy a part of childhood they never experienced.
“I have seen cartoon in the book fair first. Now I regularly come to the stall to enjoy cartoon and sell candies around the stall”, said Chand Mia, a street vendor who used to sell candy in and around the Suhrawardy Udyan, told the correspondent yesterday.
Alfaz, a 10-year-old boy, like other days has been visiting the book fair with others from Chankharpul since the fair opened to enjoy the cartoon. “We don't have a TV in the house, so I regularly come to the fair to enjoy cartoon and leave the fair at night”.
“Sometimes I carry books for booksellers but basically I come to enjoy the cartoon", said Mehedi, 13, who left his job as bus helper to enjoy the TV show at the fair. “I wish I had a CD of cartoon, but we have no facility to watch cartoon in the house", he added.
Rubel Ahmed, a salesman of Tonatuni stall, said they were selling educational CDs, DVDs, and books. They were getting a very good response especially from the children, as children are usually fan of cartoon, he added.
Meanwhile a total of 84 new books arrived at the fair yesterday while presence of crow visitors was low as on other working days.
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