Book culture generally does not previal in Delhi as compared to Calcutta, for example. If a book fair is held in Calcutta, the visitors there treat it as a carnival of the intelligentsia. Most of the people visit the Calcutta book fair to purchase books. That is why the organisers of book fairs in Calcutta do not take pains to arrange for any other activity except putting up enormous collections of books on display. But in Delhi things are quite different. Delhites visit a book fair as if they are out on a picnic spot for some entertainment. So the organisers of book fairs in Delhi have to arrange for their entertainment as well. Otherwise, there is a danger of not many people showing up. In spite of being a cosmopolitan city and a seat of education, so far Delhi has not developed a book culture as Calcutta has done.

    In Delhi people do not seem to have much interest in or craze for books. Even the university students depend on guide books to pass their examinations. In the good old days people used to read books for enriching one’s intellectual horizons. But now cinema or television is performing that role as people have not much interest in reading either for pleasure or learning.

    The Book Fair 2000 in New Delhi had children’s literature as its central theme. Apart from a colourful range of books for children, there were a number of literary activities by and for the children. A separate theme pavilion was set up displaying the best of children’s literature collected from India and abroad. In the theme pavilion, there was a special counter for children, aimed at promoting their reading interests through interaction with book personalities. This was arranged by NBT through its National Centre for Children’s Literature. As a special gesture, children in school uniform were allowed free entry daily between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.

    The Fair occupied a space of over 27,000 sq.meters. There were 1200 participants. Of them 40 came from abroad. They included the USA, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Belgium, Egypt, Mauritius, Zimbabwe, Russia, Japan, Israel, Nepal, Austria, Sri Lanka, France, Hungary, Bangladesh, Portugal, Brazil, Colombia and Malaysia. Also, there were a number of UN and international organisations taking part. The Indian participants included 290 publishers and distributors of Hindi books, 810 of English, 27 of Urdu, 12 each of Bengali and Punjabi, 10 of Malayalam, 8 of Sanskrit, 3 of Marathi, 2 each of Sindhi and Oriya and one each of Gujarati, Assamese, Kashmiri, Kannada, Tamil and Telugu books.

    The World Book Fair is a literary panorama of books and events providing an insight into the achievements of the Indian publishing industry. Well-known litterateurs from India and abroad were invited to the Fair to enable them to get an overview of the publishing scene in India. The events organised this year at the Fair included seminars on topics such as "Publishing and a Learning Society", "Growing up with Books : Children’s Literarure in Developing Countries", "Public Library-A Dynamic Community Centre for Socio-Cultural Uplift of Rural India","Literature, "Mirror of the Times", "How and which of Our Books to Sell Abroad", "Anti-Piracy of Books" and "Book Selling" by Afro-Asian Book Council.

    Publishers say the 14th World book Fair was good for business. Books worth several lakh rupees were sold. There were ten thousand visitors every day. The number of buyers increased day by day. Expensive book stalls were always crowded by professionals who were buying books of their interest but small stalls had few people to buy books. Some of the stall owners said that television, Internet and computers have led to a decline in reading habits. But book lovers always manage to take some time for reading. When television came people thought radio will die out but it is still alive and kicking. So it is a question of managing one’s time to read books. But now there is a need to produce the right kind of books. Quality is one factor but in India fewer books for children are printed by out publishers.

    Children’s literature was the theme of this year’s Book Fair. The aim was to develop interest in reading books among children. The best publications were available to attract the children during the Fair. But these books, alas, did not interest them. They were more attracted to music, puppet shows, free gifts, games and seminars.

    It is a matter of concern that our children are running away from reading books. Sometimes our schools also may be responsible for it. Children have to read and grasp a course which makes them develop a distaste for books. Either they are course books or some other types of books. Children have little interest in reading them. Books, it apears, are no longer a child’s best friend. But getting kids to read books will remain a great challenge for Indian publishers in the coming years.