Gomti Book Festival opens to a rush of school kids
The Gomti Book Festival was inaugurated at Gomti Riverfront Park here on Saturday under the theme of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav
The Gomti Book Festival was inaugurated at Gomti Riverfront Park here on Saturday under the theme of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav.
The book fair, organised by the National Book Trust (NBT), made its debut in the City of Nawabs in the 66 years of the Trust and is being organised in association with the Lucknow Municipal Corporation and Lucknow Development Authority. The fair will continue for nine days, concluding on November 6.
The fair had more than 80 book stalls from different publication houses coming from Delhi, Jaipur and other states, including Lucknow publishers.
The chief guest at the inauguration was Hriday Narayan Dikshit, former Speaker of the UP Legislative Assembly, who was joined on the dais by members of NBT as well as Indian author and poet Yatendra Mishra and divisional commissioner Roshan Jacob.
Amongst the audience were bookworms of all ages, though a large number of school children from City Montessori School, Lucknow Public School and also government school students from Rashtriya Balika Inter College, Army Public School and students from NGO Vigyan Foundation, amongst others, were present in large numbers. Different schools will be visiting over the nine days of the event.
Speakers spoke about the importance of promoting a habit of reading amongst the youth in India, stressing that the organisers intend on making this a calendar event for the city. “It can become something the citizens look forward to annually, and can also become a tourist attraction for visitors as well, providing for a cultural exchange between states,” said Jacob in her address.
Anita Bhatnagar Jain, trustee with NBT, in her address urged parents to buy more books for their children. “On speaking to the children here I found that most of them are only reading course-related books. We must promote the practice of reading story books among children. Having a relationship with books is very important,” she added.
For all the days that the fair is active, there will be events happening at the Gomti Riverfront grounds simultaneously. The inauguration was closely followed by an interactive session with primary school goers at the Children’s Corner behind the string of bookstalls, where children participated in a fun quiz on India and other subjects.
Col Yuvraj Mallick, director, NBT, said that there will be an event on Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on October 31. A Yuva Corner will also be set up from October 30, where activities for youngsters and children will be organised.
In his address, Govind Prasad, chairman, NBT, spoke of the importance of encouraging and promoting young writers - and how as a part of the PM Yuva Mentorship Yojana, they were able to identify a number of young authors who collectively cover 22 regional languages as well as writers in English. Three young writers who were selected as a part of the PM Yuva Mentorship Yojana were also felicitated during the inauguration.
Kainaat Arif, 16, who was recognised at the event, said that it provides a great opportunity to writers like her to explore their skills. “My teacher encouraged me to try and apply for this scheme, and many months later I found out that I was selected. The editing, publication, distribution, printing and everything is being taken care of by the Trust, and the money I received from the grant has been put away in the bank for my college fund.”
