Up for grab, both new and old
There are broadly two groups of buyers -- one preferring new books and the other searching for old favourites. For both the Ekushey book fair is the place to be.
Anamika Sarker, a student of musicology at Dhaka University, belongs to the first group, always interested in new ideas and fresh thoughts that make up the content of the new books.
“When writer Humayun Ahmed Sir was alive, I used to wait for his new arrivals. I still wait for the book fair to come as it brings much joy and festivity,” she said.
She bought "Dekha Hobe Bijoye", an essay collection by Ahsan Rony.
An admirer of Humayun Ahmed, she also picked up his Oranya and Joshoha Brikkher Deshe.
Another student of DU, Mahia Hasan Meem, was browsing the stalls with her friends to see the new arrivals. “I prefer new books of new writers to those of veteran writers,” she said, explaining that it would encourage new writers to write something new and help Bangla literature flourish.
For new writers, one sale means a lot because it means their hard work is paying back and is being accepted.
“I feel so lucky and inspired to see my books being bought by the youths. It encourages me to write more,” said the young writer Ahsan Rony.
“Dekha Hobe Bijoye” contains essays of 22 young leaders from different sectors. Priced at Tk 150, it is available at Sahos Publication.
While some prefer new books to old ones and vice versa, there is a third group who want to collect both at the same time. To them, any book unread is new and it does not matter in which year the book was published.
Rafee Shams, who runs a voluntary organisation, bought a couple of Zahir Raihan's colleted novels and Selina Hossain's “Opekka”. To him, old books are preferable because of their reliability and quality.
“Books of Rabindranath are still popular because they are immortal and legendary. This sort of write-ups of the past is acceptable to all,” he said.
He said people often did not want to read works of new writers because their quality was not guaranteed.
Srizoni Publication brought out some favourites including Liberation War based novel "Juddher Dinguli" by Moshiur Rahman, "Kabiler Bon", a novel by Altaf Mahmud, children's book "Science Club" by Ahsan Habib, the Bangla translation of the classic "The Old Man and The Sea" by Ernest Hemingway, "David Copperfield" by Charles Dickens, and poetry book “Jara Atmahatya Korechilo” by Mizanur Rahman Kallal. One favourite is young writer Nahid Imran Shaon's travelogue "Bhager Desh Dekha" (Touring a truncated country), available at Prokriti.
Moshiur Rahman, owner of Srijoni Prokasani, said, “Youths are buying new books more than old novels or short stories.” Echoing him, publisher Showkat Ali Tara of Samagra Publication said, “Old classics are always on sale, especially at the book fair. But youths prefer the new.”
The number of new books which arrived this year was 3,311. It was 3,444 last year, 3,700 the year before, 2,959 in 2014, and 3,070 in 2013.
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