A little bit of reading and loads of fun

With the Bangalore Book Festival already underway, here's a mini guide to book shopping at the myriad stalls that line the Palace Grounds

An open space filled with books of all kinds. Sounds fun? Yes, to a bookworm this might be a paradise.
Bangalore Book Festival brings publishers from all over the country.



"We celebrate this as a festival of knowledge. It is no less than the famed Kolkata Book Fair," says Satish Kumar, the executive member of Bangalore Book Sellers Publishers Association, which is organising the fair."

"Books of authors from Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi and all other parts of the world are available under one roof."

The festival will be on till November 15, showcasing books in 338 colourful stalls including stands for children.

Books ranging from Rs 50 to Rs 10,000 are available on various subjects like engineering, medicine, Indology, spiritualism, religion, fiction and so on. A ten per cent discount is available on all these books.

Publishing houses like Cambridge, Penguin and others are offering books in English, Hindi, Kannada, Telugu, Tamil and more. This year, however, there is a rise in the sale of Kannada and Indology books.



"Kannada poetry, short stories sell more even children's comics. There is a rise in sale of Kannada books by 10 to 15 per cent. Again elderly people and even software professionals buy books on Indology," says Satish.

Heavy subsidies are allowed on Kannada works, which are sponsored by Kannada Parajikar, a government body.

But even if you are not a bookworm then there is enough to entertain you. A restaurant has been put up presenting delectable vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes as well as yummy chaats.



Moreover, every evening a cultural program is organized giving young talents a scope to exhibit their talents.

But as Satish says the main attraction will always be books and not other forms of entertainment.

"Today it is television, tomorrow there will be something else, electronic goods come and go. But books will remain forever. People are crowding as they want to develop knowledge as they want to get all kinds of books at moderate rates in the same place," saysu00a0 Satish.