Patna Book Fair 1992: A Collective Effort Towards Knowledge and Culture
Special Invitees: Governor, Shri S K. Sinha, Lfn. Carnal Dr J.G. Jain, Dr Kumar Vimal, Prof Jabir Hussain, Prof Mangal Murthy, Prof Uttam Kumar Singh, Prof A.N. Singh, Shri U.K. Sinha (IAS), Shri Arvind Prasad (IAS), Shri N.K. Agrawal, Shri Ajay Kumar (City SP), Shri Rathindra Nath Mohanty (IAS), Dr M.N. Jha (AIR Gauhati), Shri Brahmanand Choudhary (AIR Itanagar), Shri Tarit Kumar Bose (Bharati Bhawan, Patna), Shri Uditendu Bose (Popular Book Store, Patna), Shri Hiralal Gupta (Selina Publishers, Delhi), Shri O.P. Shastri (Souvenir Publishers, Delhi), and Shri Y.P. Ranade (Scholar Publishing House, Delhi).
[We recall that the 1990 event was organised at the time when our country continued to groan under the impact of bouts of violence rigged by the Mandal and Temple issues which pushed the general law and order situation to a new law in almost all the states. Large scale disturbance also cast dark shadows on the state’s social fronts. Frequent caste and communal clashes threatened to rip the society apart, eclipsed whatever development was made in different fields. The academic environment suffered most since the institutions remained closed for months in the wake of caste and communal tensions. However, by successfully organising the Patna Book Fair 1990 at such a difficult time from 20th November to 3rd December on a massive scale that saw a few international participants as well, the Organising Committee diffused tension on social and communal fronts.
Patna Book 📚 Fair 1990 also restores academic environment in the state and re-inatilled confidence amongst the masses in general. The fairground remained a hub of academic, social and cultural activities and gathered nearly three lakh visitors in a short duration of fourteen days. People who used to remain indoors in the wake of Mandal and Temple (कमंडल) issues came out in the open and graced the venue of the event without any fear. This by no means a mean achievement. This event was conducted and concluded on a grand scale. Its success is doubly impressive considering the fact that its duration coincided with upheavals in the entire country on a massive scale, diesel crisis, communal disturbances et cetera. The Advisory cum Organising Committee is, perhaps, the only body which ventured to hold the event despite all odds in 1990 to celebrate International Literacy Year– a global event that had scant impact on the country at the time the educational festival was held.
The participants who suffered due to the uncertainty then prevailing also came as a landmark in the history of national educational festivals as the Patna’s event established a record in their numbers which again is all the more impressive in view of the impediments that law and order problems across the country had put in our path. The Embassy of France and Germany also showed a keenness to participate. They would have done so, had the conditions not been so adverse. From within the country we had participants almost from all states. The people (visitors) from the neighbouring states also visited the 1990 Patna Book 📚 Fair in large numbers and it was definitely a bigger success than the one of 1985 or even 1988.]
1991 Patna Book 📚 Fair saw a new thing. The Organisers intimated awards for the people who have contributed immensely to different fields. In order to recognise their contributions, awards were given to the following at the closing ceremony of the book 📚 fair. The awards were given away by the Hon’ble Chief Justice Shri Bimal Chandra Basak who attended the function as the Chief Guest:
–In the field of Theatre: Rameshwar Singh Kashyap was awarded ‘Bikhari Thakur Award’
–In the field of Literature:
Shri Himanshu Srivastava was awarded ‘Phanishwar Nath Renu Award’.
–In the field of Music: Shri Zakir Hussain was awarded ‘Ram Chatur Mullick Award’.
–In the category of uprising young publishers: Mr Satyanarain Prasad of Kiran Prakashan was awarded: ‘Ram Lochan Sharan Award’
The 1991 Patna Book 📚 Fair was such a tremendous success, that even the leading national dailies and magazines carried articles which included the Indian Express and India Today. Since the term of Mr H.L. Gulati (Branch Manager, UBS Publishers) had expired in 1992, Dr Lala Surajnandan Prasad Emeritus Professor PMCH was unanimously elected President.
Then came to turn for the 1992 Patna Book 📚 Fair, which is in progress. There was great amount of opposition from even the Committee members as they differed on many fronts — mainly the budget. They also expressed their doubts if there will be positive response from the participants this year for reasons best known to them. This delayed the decision until the middle of September (1992) although the announcement had been made and forms etc. mailed. At this juncture, Mr N.K. Jha once again allowed remarkable maturity and undertook the entire responsibility of the Organisation of the fair 📚 and expressed with full confidence that the Organisers will not have to suffer loss this time. Therefore, starting on a cautious note, what has emerged this year is far better and bigger what the people had seen in the previous years and this year’s fair 📚 is also set on different lines.
Later Mr N.K. Jha explained that when he had visited Delhi to attend the 24th Congress of the International Publishers Association, Geneva in Delhi in a delegation on the 24th January, 1992, he had spoken to many Indian & Foreign publishers and all of them had shown keen interest in taking part in the next Patna Book 📚 Fair. Therefore, there was hardly any cause of concern. Moreover, he had full confidence in the team work. Added to this was the advance booking which participants had made long back and cancellation of the fair at this juncture would have affected our credibility and had endangered the future of this significant event.
The Patna Book 📚 Fair is now in the 5th year and deserves commendations. People now wait, watch and talk and in fact it has become a topic of discussion in the state or atleast in Patna. Be it children, youths, women Academia, Patna Advertising Agencies or a ordinary person. Restaurant owner or plywood dealer, painter or plumber because all of them got involved in one way or the other. Come November and there is a talk of the book 📚 fair.
It will be unfair if the contribution of Prof Uttam Kumar Singh is not mentioned here. In fact he is a quiet supporter. Come what may, the Organisers seek his advice and the problem is sorted out in no time. He has contributed a lot to the success of the 1991 Patna Book 📚 Fair and is now engaged in making 1992 book 📚 fair a success. He does not have words like ‘impossible’ or ‘improbable’ in his dictionary.
Mr Rajiv Ranjan is another name which deserves mention here. He shoulder the entire responsibility of arranging Quiz Programmes, of Debates and other such events. His name has become synonymous with the event.
And when people talk of the cultural programmes — most entertaining, the names of Mr M.N. Jha (AIR Gauhati) and Mr Brahmanand Choudhary (AIR Itanagar) figure uppermost. They have contributed immensely to the success of the event.
This year (1992), with the release of UGC grants, there is a healthy trend as a lot of books 📚 are expected to be purchased by the Educational Institutions unlike previous years when the library purchases were negligible.
Above all, the Organisers are satisfied with the help received from the State Government this year for which they have expressed their gratitude to the Chief Minister Mr Lalu Prasad and other concerned departments.
No wonder that the Organisers are full of hope for the fair’s future, said Mr N.K. Jha, “If communication facilities improve, we can make this the best show in the country”
The book lovers in Bihar would like that the Patna Book 📚 Fair continues for decades to come and hope that the Organisers will live upon their aspirations.
