Most of us some or the other time try to recreate or relive old memories....memories close to our heart. But sometimes the situation changes, sometimes the circumstance and most of the time people changes. One small example is Agartala book fair!
This time fortunately after 14 long years I revisited that event which was and is still very close to me heart. Book fair is like a continuous celebration for all book lovers. Right from the time I could remember I used to go there along with my parents, roam through different stalls full of colorful surprises and used to buy books decided by my parents.And again I used to revisit with my maternal uncle and aunt and they used to buy books to me separately. There used to be fixed budget allocated as I started growing up. So basically used to go through almost all the stalls before deciding upon the best books I can procure with my limited budget.Initial years I too remember standing in a queue of bamboo stalls near the entree gate for collection of the discounted amount too. So basically it used to Book hunting for 10 days! Parents used to take us and we used to roam from stall to stall going through different books. There were several interesting books which we used to finish reading in the stall itself. Later with years we started going on our own and for longer time either accompanied by siblings, with friends and even from school. Along with books we used to meet so many known faces, eat yummy snacks.........it was actually celebration in all essence!Finally after 10 days the book marathon used to be over and our greedy mind used to wait for the next sitting over the accumulated treasures. Then it used to took place in Rabindra Bhavan .
After 14 years this time visited it along with my husband and it got shifted to Umakanta Academy . I was really so much excited when I got to know that this time I am going to be there during book fair. Though Rabindra Bhavan has been reconstructed into a nice theater complex with multiple halls and grand structure, still I miss that old premises where right from the celebration of "Ponchise Bioshakh" (Tagore's birthday) to Bookfair, Industrial Expo, Handloom exhibition...everything used to look more beautiful! I think all these also used to add more feathers in its cap of authenticity. And probably with the old building and change in premises my memories were sent somewhere far off. Unlike now we hardly have any digital proof of those days! Well now coming back to the present senerio, whenever I used to ask my parents if they have been to handloom expo, they seems to be utterly disappointed with it getting shifted to far of location in Haphania and more to their horrible experience of lack of parking space ( anyways you cannot go there without a vehicle). I used to think within that perhaps they are getting lazy with age and making simple excuses. But even I found so many things missing in 2015 Bookfair when I visited it myself. First of all few of my favourite book shops like Deb Sahitya Kuntir was almost empty and was showcasing only few books! I found the space to be too small and with no leisurely areas......only one cafeteria, lighting comparatively dim, less crowded and hardly any known face ( the last one is completely my own disappointment as with time probably I am unable to keep contact with people or might be because of staying away from home for such a long time, I am unknown to all the upcoming new faces and hence this lack of recognition). Whatever but even after visiting the fair for 3-4 days I failed to develop any connection and was missing the book fair in my memories which was so much close to my heart. Still I believe it was nice that I visited and atleast tried to connect those old realms as we start treasuring old memories more when we know the present reality.
This time fortunately after 14 long years I revisited that event which was and is still very close to me heart. Book fair is like a continuous celebration for all book lovers. Right from the time I could remember I used to go there along with my parents, roam through different stalls full of colorful surprises and used to buy books decided by my parents.And again I used to revisit with my maternal uncle and aunt and they used to buy books to me separately. There used to be fixed budget allocated as I started growing up. So basically used to go through almost all the stalls before deciding upon the best books I can procure with my limited budget.Initial years I too remember standing in a queue of bamboo stalls near the entree gate for collection of the discounted amount too. So basically it used to Book hunting for 10 days! Parents used to take us and we used to roam from stall to stall going through different books. There were several interesting books which we used to finish reading in the stall itself. Later with years we started going on our own and for longer time either accompanied by siblings, with friends and even from school. Along with books we used to meet so many known faces, eat yummy snacks.........it was actually celebration in all essence!Finally after 10 days the book marathon used to be over and our greedy mind used to wait for the next sitting over the accumulated treasures. Then it used to took place in Rabindra Bhavan .
After 14 years this time visited it along with my husband and it got shifted to Umakanta Academy . I was really so much excited when I got to know that this time I am going to be there during book fair. Though Rabindra Bhavan has been reconstructed into a nice theater complex with multiple halls and grand structure, still I miss that old premises where right from the celebration of "Ponchise Bioshakh" (Tagore's birthday) to Bookfair, Industrial Expo, Handloom exhibition...everything used to look more beautiful! I think all these also used to add more feathers in its cap of authenticity. And probably with the old building and change in premises my memories were sent somewhere far off. Unlike now we hardly have any digital proof of those days! Well now coming back to the present senerio, whenever I used to ask my parents if they have been to handloom expo, they seems to be utterly disappointed with it getting shifted to far of location in Haphania and more to their horrible experience of lack of parking space ( anyways you cannot go there without a vehicle). I used to think within that perhaps they are getting lazy with age and making simple excuses. But even I found so many things missing in 2015 Bookfair when I visited it myself. First of all few of my favourite book shops like Deb Sahitya Kuntir was almost empty and was showcasing only few books! I found the space to be too small and with no leisurely areas......only one cafeteria, lighting comparatively dim, less crowded and hardly any known face ( the last one is completely my own disappointment as with time probably I am unable to keep contact with people or might be because of staying away from home for such a long time, I am unknown to all the upcoming new faces and hence this lack of recognition). Whatever but even after visiting the fair for 3-4 days I failed to develop any connection and was missing the book fair in my memories which was so much close to my heart. Still I believe it was nice that I visited and atleast tried to connect those old realms as we start treasuring old memories more when we know the present reality.
