Kolkata’s book fair, nearly 50 years old, finally gets a mascot

The iconic Kolkata book fair, perhaps the most popular event in the city besides Durga Puja, will see two big firsts this year: the introduction of a mascot and an entirely open-air event, with no separate halls for English-language publishers. The fair, held these days at an open area in Salt Lake City, will begin on January 28 and go on till February 9, is expected to draw more than 25 lakh people.

“What’s new this year is the introduction of a mascot — it will be the vehicle of Goddess Saraswati,” Tridib Chatterjee, president of Publishers and Booksellers Guild, which organises the fair, told The Hindu. The vehicle of Saraswati, the goddess of learning, is the swan, and it has been given the look of a bookworm — bespectacled and reading a book.

“Also, it will be an open-air festival in the true sense, without any temporary hall constructed for English-language pavilions. Earlier, all the national and international publications were put inside one temporary hangar because this was the practice when the fair was held at Milan Mela grounds, which had four permanent halls. In this ground, there are no permanent structures, and the participants were not very happy with temporary hangars. So, this decision is taken,” Mr. Chatterjee said.

This year — and also the first time in its 48-year-old history — Germany will be the theme country at the fair. The country had stopped participating in the event after 2009 due to pollution issues and returned to it last year because the ground at the current venue is concreted.

While the new mascot is generally bringing smiles — a saree-clad bespectacled swan holding a book — there are people who are wondering why the vehicle of a Hindu goddess should be made the symbol of a festival that is not religious but belongs to lovers of literature.

“The idea of a mascot is good, but Saraswati is the Hindu goddess of knowledge and learning, whereas the book fair is not a Hindu festival but a festival of book lovers. But since the mascot is simple and the swan is made to look like a young woman book lover, I think it can be accepted,” celebrated Bengali writer Amar Mitra said.

The countdown has begun for the guild as well as readers. “The sky is the limit, that’s our slogan. We are hoping that more and more people will walk into the fair and cross last year’s figures — last year we had 26 lakh visitors,” Mr. Chatterjee said.