The Other Book Fair in India

The New Delhi World Book fair is inaugurated for the first time today at the Pragati Maidan grounds, in 1972. President V V Giri starts the event which would span three weeks, and give a pattern for future book fairs in Delhi, which are now held annually.

The Pragati Maidan book fair- paradise for book lovers; Source: Public Domain

India has had its share of book fairs - the lively and (still) largest one being held at Calcutta every year. To rival its size, the government planned to open something very similar in Delhi as well, naming it the New Delhi World Book Fair, the second largest book fair in the country.

The responsibility was given to the National Book Trust, and the biennial (back then it used to happen only once in two years) opened up to spectacular crowds in 1972, at Pragati Maidan’s halls. It had 200 publishers at the start, with many from other countries.

Every year, the book fair chooses a different theme, around which its events and literature present is organised. Over a million people come to visit, and tussling between the large crowds often becomes a problem, especially as they are all quite heavily involved in reading the books they want to buy, and not paying attention to what’s happening around them!

Apart from just the display of books, the event has also started including author meetups, the release of books, children’s activities, and other attractions. It serves as both promotion of readership policies at the national level, as well as helping local, regional, national and international publications get a platform where they can support themselves and promote their products.

March 18th, 1972 was when it all had started - a three-week affair back then, not like the smaller one nowadays (which is just a few days) and was inaugurated by the President of India, V.V Giri himself. A mere 6790 m² at the start, it now spans more than 40,000 m², making it one of the largest exhibits in India as well. Beautiful stalls line up the halls of the display halls, and everything and anything - from second-hand books, brand new publications, authors of every language, region and genre - is available.