If you thought only high-priced engineering books or pulp fiction keep the sale going, you are mistaken. Colourful books for children rule the roost at the 33rd Chennai Book Fair, which is on at St. George’s Anglo-Indian School.
Scenes of heated arguments between parents and children, who halt near the billing counters with an armful of books, is a common sight at the expo, which will end on January 10. Publishers have capitalised on the demand from the kids by slashing the price of many imported books.
Not-so-popular fiction also finds takers, as some stalls sell them for prices as low as Rs.50. Spiritual books are another major attraction.
Says Ananda Nilayam’s proprietor V.R.K. Chidambaram: “Astrology is a popular genre among book readers. Many pick up self-learning books of astrology out of curiosity. Spirituality and religion are in demand this year.”
With just months to go for public examinations, guides for CBSE textbooks are selling like hotcakes. Books such as R.S. Agarwal’s ‘Quantitative Aptitude’ always enjoy a fresh set of takers who are preparing for competitive examinations. A good number of copies of it and similar books on aptitude and logical reasoning have been sold at the exhibition.
“Academic books move off the shelves quite fast. One could see publishers and bookshop owners stocking such books in large numbers. Our publication, too, is enjoying a good support from students and people preparing for competitive examinations,” said V. Chandra Babu, branch manager of S. Chand and Company Limited. Falling in line with academic books, dictionaries and thesauruses also retain their top position among bestsellers.
All the 10 aisles of the exhibition halls were jammed on Sunday and shopkeepers say the stalls are well stocked on Friday nights to be prepared for a brisk business during the weekend.
Children were visibly revved up by the stalls that sell educational CDs. Baiting kids by playing animated versions of Panchantra and Thenali Raman, the sellers of children’s CDs are confident that sales would reach the peak during the exhibition.
However, a few voices of complaints resounded among visitors on the dearth of English books and especially classics.
Visitors such as R. Ramanachandran found the exhibition “too predictable.”
“There are hardly any new stalls, and the stalls stock the same types of books. Best-sellers are found everywhere. What we need is limited-edition books and rare classics.”
Booksellers and Publishers Association of South India Secretary Rama.Lakshnaman explains that a major change in the types of books could not be expected as the majority of the booksellers are the members of the association who display their publications every year. He predicted that an additional four lakh persons were likely to visit the fair this year, from last year’s six lakh.
“We have also given over free tickets to school students and admission for college students is also free. We want to give a variety of programmes for visitors in the evenings.”
Crowded lunch lines jostle for space with long queues for blood donation.
The stall of Lions Club of Global Metrowest was as busy as any other book stall, encouraging people to donate blood for Lions Blood Bank.
“Nearly 150 people volunteer for blood donation every day. Every year, the trend has been similar. Youngsters come forward enthusiastically and many parents also volunteer, yielding to the pressure from their kids,” said A.M. Kanahamurthy, vice-president of the club.
