Ekushey Boi Mela delight overwhelms first-timers
Visitors browse through the books on Rabindranth Tagore, which arrived in the Amar Ekushey Boi Mela yesterday. Photo: STAR
Towfiqur Rahman, a student of Hamdard Public College, had never visited the Amar Ekushey Boi Mela before. In his first-ever visit yesterday, he could hardly hold back his excitement. “I've always heard about the fair. It was a dream to come here. I feel delighted today”, said Towfiq. He was one of about 100 students from the college who visited the fair yesterday. “I love detective stories”, Towfiq said, flashing a detective novel he had just bought. “This is exciting”. It was not just Towfiq. For many of his fellows, it was the first visit to the annual book fair. “There are no words to express what I'm feeling”, said Tamanna Chowdhury Diba with a wide smile. “This is my first visit to the book fair. I collected two books of my favourite writer Humayun Ahmed”, she said. “It is a rare feeling to buy books of your favourite writer from the book fair”. Golam Sarwar, lecturer at the English department of the college located in the city's Panthapath, said a visit to the book fair is part of the regular activities of the institution. “We used to take our students to different historical and traditional spots so that they could be made aware of the history and heritage of the country”, Sarwar said. “Bangla Academy is an institution to preserve and promote Bangla culture and heritage. We have taken our students to the fair so that they can be encouraged, interested in book reading and be aware about Bangla literature”. To the delight of Rabindra lovers, 10 books from a total of 151 books on the great Bangla poet hit the Boi Mela yesterday. The rest of the books will arrive in phases. Former chief justice Muhammad Habibur Rahman unveiled the 10 books at Nazrul Mancha on Bangla Academy premises on the occasion of the 90th birth anniversary of late National Professor Kabir Chowdhury. Kabir Chowdhury was the president of the five-member advisory council responsible for publishing the Rabindra Smarak Granthamala, an initiative that marks the 150th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore. Murdhonno Publication published the books edited by Munzur-i-Mowla. Terming the publication of 151 books on Rabindranath as a rare initiative, Sanjoy Majumdar, the publisher, said his firm had taken it up to introduce Rabindranath to common people. Meanwhile, a total of 129 new books arrived at the fair yesterday, with visitors' presence being low as on other working days.
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