34th Chennai Book Fair: A tradition that never disappoints.

Just like all of you, my calendar has certain days and/or events that I wouldn’t miss for anything. One of them is the Landmark Quiz in August, for the yearly dosage of ‘oh-I-didn’t-know-that!’-ness. For the year to end on a happy note, I attend Little Theatre’s Christmas Pantomime, all set to crack my ribs with all the comedy. But every year, it’s become a tradition of sorts for my family to visit the Chennai Book Fair in January. And this year was no different.

Belying common impressions that the Internet and the TV have nearly exterminated their reading habits, people thronged to the 10 day Chennai Book Fair from 4-18 January at the St. George's Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School, Shenoy Nagar. More than 30,000 people streamed into the book fair on it's last day on Sunday picking up books on a spectrum of subjects ranging from Krishna to Kurt Cobain, and from corporate affairs to cooking.

Organised by The Booksellers' and Publishers' Association of South India (BAPASI) the fair comprised of 588 stalls this year compared to the 450 last year. On most working days, nearly 20,000 people turned up while during holidays, it neared to at least 30, 000. Books on a wide range of subjects including self-improvement, biographies, yoga, fiction, history, philosophy, children’s literature, cookery and science were available at the exhibition.

Biggies in Tamil publishing like Vanathi, Narmada, Arivoli had stalls in the fair, as were The British Council Library, American Library and Higginbothams. The main focus for this year's exhibition has been children. Excited bunch of kids were seen eagerly browsing through the racks for the books of their varied interest.

But what surprised me this time around was the staggering amount of roof less bookstores that had taken camp outside the venue, on the pavement that surrounds Pachaiyappas College. Owners were brandishing ‘The Lost Symbol’ and ‘2 States’ shouting out their wares “Edhu eduthaalum twenty rupees wonly!” (Anything you take: twenty rupees only!)

Despite spending over two hours, I could manage to see just about half the stalls this year. As my mum collected books that went along the lines “How do diabetic patients live a healthy life?” I meandered away and spoilt myself silly by getting a paperback version of ‘The Complete Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.’ Here’s to many hours of reading with a smoke pipe and a detective hat!

You can dig out for more information on this year's book fair here.