The month of Books

Photo: Kazi Tahsin Agaz Apurbo

It's the month of books here in Dhaka and it definitely is not too late to kick start (yet again) the habit of reading one book a week. What used to be a part of everyday life -- locked up in a room fill with books and a bowl of apples and oranges on a rainy day, oblivious to the world around you, finishing one book a day -- is sadly a luxury now. Thanks to frequent Facebook and Twitter notifications on your phone, you simply cannot keep away from the distractions that will never let you go past the first few pages. However, February is always a good time to begin, especially if you are in Dhaka. Not only do you get access to the latest Bengali fictions, nonfictions, essays, plays, novels etc at the Ekushey Boimela. You suddenly find latest publications in English being sold in the streets (pirated of course!) and you can't help it but buy one or two and flip through the grainy pages and as a result breaking your one rule about never to promote piracy in any form.

Recently, I had the opportunity to visit a bookstore after ages and run my fingers over new releases. I ended up buying several at a time, and yes I did feel guilty about spending a fortune. But I did realise things that could probably change my life for the better in the next many years.

It is OKAY for you to spend on books now and then, provided that you make it a point to actually read them and not stack them up on your shelf. Tell yourself that you need to finish the books that particular month, only then the purchases would be worthwhile.
Friends and random people talking you down over how you read a lot of English in the month of February, when you should actually be buying and reading Bengali novels from the fair? Well, it's the habit that matters most, I would tell them. Getting back into the habit of reading, in whatever language you feel most comfortable, would actually help you to keep up with the habit later on as well.
The Boi Mela is actually a great platform to meet like-minded people, lovers of literature and also to spend hours together going through books that maybe you would like to buy and read. Starting from old Bengali novels, essays, poems, history books, graphic novels to new releases – the book fair happening right now at the Bangla Academy might be your next destination to discover something new.

Ever visited one of those old havelis with a humongous hall for a library? I am sure you would love to have one for yourself. Its time to start building one – one book at a time!