I was more than pleased to be back on familiar ground – the 49th Chennai Book Fair at the YMCA in Nandanam (Jan 8-21). My schoolmate Rege and I gathered that the Fair originated around the time we started high school. I remember it being held at the Quaid-e-Millath college, opposite Connemara and at St George’s school on Poonamalle High Road from 2007 to 2012. Madrasa-I-Azam School in Thousand Lights hosted the first edition (1977) and had 22 stalls. The 1982 edition was organized at Woodlands Drive-in. The 2016 January edition was a washout because of the 2015 floods but was held later in June at the Island Grounds.
Inside the Chennai Book Fair. Pic by Srini Swaminathan.
This time we went to the Fair around 1.45 pm. No crowd. We did see school children lining up near the eight entrances. Tamil book publishers and sellers outnumbered the English, 428 to 256. The website of organisers BAPASI is in Tamil but the stall list is mostly in English! We were only giving the Fair a dekko and hurried through, but some books caught my eye – biographies of cricketer Ashwin, M.S. Swaminathan and singer Sanjay Subrahmanyan, Shoba De’s latest, a children’s book that takes you on a tour of the city, a book about Al Pacino, a world atlas and one on Chennai Rains. On our way out, we had a poor excuse for kozhukattais and kuzhipaniyarams. We washed them down with Irani tea.
I was itching to go back to the Fair and did so the next day. My proclivities leaning towards English, I had that much less looking to do. That didn’t stop me from picking up a Thirukkural, Annai Sarada Devi by Mathioli and Thumbi – a bilingual magazine published from Puliyanur village on the foot of the Javadhu Hills. I went up to Tamil writer Jeyamohan at Vishnupuram Publications armed with the English translation (Stories of the True) of his Aram. When I told him in the same breath that my father-in-law was Kanaiyazhi Kasturi Rangan and my knowledge of Tamil was below par, he said, “Ah, that makes for a good piece of gossip”. He took me through the translation process of his book. I got my copy signed by him. Jeyamohan’s Venmurasu, a modern re-narration of the epic Mahabharata, is the world’s longest novel ever written.
I was happy for my nephew, Krishna Jagannathan, who had his first book (Marakka Mudiyuma?) displayed at the fair. I beamed to see my name in print in friend Vamanan’s book TMS, the Voice that Moved Millions. He has thanked me for reading the manuscript and making suggestions. That’s the closest I come to writing a book! I was glad to see a stall at a far corner by the name Kyn. They have an App and it shows places in the city where readers meet to read silently – Bessy, Tower Park, Chitlapakkam Lake and some others. Kyn also puts together workshops called ‘Masterclass’. Their credo is that you don’t have to be a ‘writer writer’, and anyone can give writing a go.
I was quick to take a year’s subscription of The Hindu, availing of a hefty discount at the fair. At their stall, I chose The Monk who took India to the World, which has material from its archives dating back to 1893 and is a researcher’s (into Swami Vivekananda’s life) delight. I also picked their latest release, Black and White on Indian chess. Soon it was time to drop into a chair and enjoy a hot cup of tea inside the fair area.
I sought out the used bookshops, fell for the ‘3 for Rs 500 deal’ and then came across a stall selling ‘6 for 500’! I ended taking nine for 1000. Among them are Sophie’s World, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Third Man by cricketer and Chennai’s own V. Ramnarayan and a John Le Carre title. When I pick a book after sifting through the numberless titles on the shelves, I am going largely by my instinct for a promising read. I have been proved wrong many times but never give up buying books. I suppose I have to up my game as a more discerning reader and/or collector. Fast fact: ToI reports that books worth rupees 50 K are stolen at the Fair every year.
In a throwback to my boyhood, I bought two Amar Chitra Katha titles. From Tulika, I bought Look Ma, No Hands! – a graphic narrative told by Vikram Agnihotri, India’s first double-arm amputee to get a car driving licence and hit the tracks as a professional rally driver. You have to read it to believe it! Flitter-Flutter, an entirely illustrated National Book Trust title at Rs 60 is worth its weight in gold. Ruskin Bond’s How to be a Writer is for everyone though it bears a Harper Collins Children’s Books imprint.
Movements like the Chinmaya Foundation, Isha Foundation, ISKCON, Islamic Foundation Trust, Krishnamurti Foundation and Sri Ramakrishna Math, which have robust publishing wings, marked their presence. Bibles were being offered for free at the entrance.
After trawling the fair for five hours, my backpack stuffed with books, I stopped for a hot concoction made from aavaram and rose flowers. I heard MP Tiruchi Shiva speak at the makeshift auditorium. “I am honoured to be present at the Fair where many distinguished voices have come together,” he said.
Like me, Rege had not had enough of the annual festival of books. I was crazy enough to join him for my third and his second visit. This time round, Rege saw a method to the madness. He chatted with a fellow football fan as they lunged for a copy of legendary Manchester United coach Alex Ferguson’s autobiography. He also bought two books of puzzles, Lords of the Deccan and the British Paddington Bear. Pressed for time, we exited after taking pictures with a seated Thiruvalluvar image, in front of the fair, holding the palm leaf manuscript and stylus. Admission was free this year.