SUALKUCHI, Feb 1 - In what has been an inescapable irony at Jyoti Kshetra, Sualkuchi, amid the festivities of the 75th biennial session of the State�s apex literary body, the Asam Sahitya Sabha, book sellers are struggling to gain attention from the literature lovers.
The conference started from Friday and as stated by the locals, Jyoti Kshetra has been recording thousands of footfalls but the bookstalls are getting only a lukewarm response.
The book fair on the occasion had also begun from Thursday. But unfortunately, in the past three days they have sold books not worth over Rs 5,000.
�It is a very good time for the book publishing sector of Assam. In the past few months, we have been receiving an overwhelming response from the public in every part of the State. But at Sualkuchi, the situation is totally different and frustrating,� said Haren Kalita, one of the senior book publishers of the State who has been at the Jyoti Kshetra for the past three days with his bookstall. Yet, Kalita voiced optimism about the conference and said that they could get adequate response from the book lovers in the next three days.
Another book seller, Champak Kalita of BR Book Stall said that in the past three days he sold books worth not more than Rs 3,000. �In a recently held book fair, I sold books worth over Rs 2 lakh within six days. But here, even after two days, the response of book buyers is extremely low,� Kalita said.
In the book fair, around 47 publishers, from Assam and outside the State, including the Asam Sahitya Sabha have taken part.
Stating about the pathetic condition, Ananda Rai of Bani Prakash said, �The location of the book fair is not strategic enough to attract the public. I think this is the main reason behind the low footfall. The conference has witnessed a good number of gathering but most visitors used to visit the trade fair rather than the book fair.�
Even the sellers, present at the bookstall of the Asam Sahitya Sabha, also bemoaned the same poor conditions.
�In the past two days, we sold books worth only around Rs 5,000. Most of the books are related to culture. Earlier, such situations were very rare,� a seller present at the Sabha�s bookstall at Jyoti Kshetra said.
Meanwhile, addressing the Dr Nirmal Prabha Bordoloi memorial children conference at the 75th biennial conference of the Asam Sahitya Sabha here today, eminent writer Eli Ahmed, said that it should be the duty of every parent of Assam to encourage their children to learn Assamese language.
On Saturday, a series of programmes, including poet meet, short story writer meet, youth parliament, etc., held at venue as a part of the conference. Apart from various activities, an executive meeting and a representative meet of the Sabha were also held at the same venue.
A women meet in memory of Nalinibala Devi was also held at the conference, where the organisers felicitated a number women, including London-based educationist Manjuri Choudhury and the first Assamese woman mandolin player Anjali Mahanta, for their varied contributions.