Hyderabadis feel the pull of books

The 10-day book fair has shoppers voting with their feet for the printed word
Are you here for the book fair?" asks a girl as she tries to park her bike near the razor wire on the outer periphery of NTR Park. Though it is only 4.30 pm, there is a dust in the air, chill in the wind and the feel of carnival at the book fair near Indira Park. Though the ceremonial inauguration is yet to take place, and stall owners are still unpacking books and arranging them on shelves, the bibliophiles walk around with a rare purpose.The fair is on till December 26.
“This is my favourite time of the year as I can walk and walk taking in the sights of titles of books and names of authors, and some of these books are absolute gems which you are unlikely to discover in a book store. Last year, I discovered two rare novels by Tom Wolfe. I am hoping this year also, I discover something,” said Aloka Banerjee, who had made it to the book fair early hunting for non-fiction titles.
In an age of instant gratification where books can be bought and read at the click of a button on tablets, and books are being sold by online retailers with over 50 per cent discount, the book stalls had people scrambling for space to check out the titles. The titles and stalls arranged in four rows appear like a maze, but if you are focused you can reach your goal. The stalls present a bewildering array of choice ranging from spiritual gyaan, to one man's version of astrology, to self-help books to stalls selling only Sanskrit books.
“I found Pillars of Hercules by Paul Theroux, A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole and Incidents at the Shrine by Ben Okri. I plan to go today also. Since I am interested in second hand books, the one change I saw is that too many new titles are coming into the used category too soon perhaps. Of course, the prices are slightly higher,” says Vinod Ekbote, who blogs about books and Hyderabad.
“The book fairs are occasions to create buzz about our magazine and we also stock books that focus on economic history and society. This is the sixth year we are here and it always has been a happy occasion for us,” says N Venugopal Rao, editor of a Telugu magazine, arranging books in his stall.
The ribbon is yet to be cut, and Rs 5 entry tickets are yet to go on sale, but as the nearly 200 stalls are filled with shoppers, we can be sure that the obituary for printed books was a little too premature.