By Yoshwameki Ropmay
Book Fairs are fetes dedicated to those people who more often than not, want to leave their existential reality for a while to travel to an entire new universe for the time being. Attracting crowds, a book fair is an excellent destination for bargain-hunters, where locating an ideal read amidst a mountain of other books requires a good eye and plenty of practice but is also fulfilling in a way that stacking online ‘carts’ just isn’t. With a shared interest in discovering that one perfect book or one with an intriguing plot that they can delve into, Sunday Shillong set off to explore the opening day of a week-long book fair, devised by Bookish Santa beginning June 21 until July 1.
The Fair
Bookish Santa, a Delhi-based organisation that started in 2017, began with the vision of allowing people to pick up books at an affordable rate. Hosting its first edition of its Shillong chapter, the paperbacks were available for Rs. 300 per kg, while the hardcovers could be procured for Rs.350 per kg. After hosting successful book fairs in Kolkata and Guwahati, they decided to extend that community reach to Shillong. Through the fair, their aim is to ignite the imaginations of avid readers and leave an indelible mark on the city’s cultural fabric. The literary extravaganza delighted book lovers in Shillong, providing them with a space to revel in the magic of 
words wherein they were introduced to a delightful surprise – a distinctive feature which allowed them to purchase books by weight. While similar book fairs are held in other parts of the country like Delhi, Bangalore, and Mumbai, the organisers of Bookish Santa decided to introduce this concept to the city to give its readers an opportunity to indulge in the sheer delight of literary exploration. “Most of our customers are from the northeast and when we talked with them, we understood that there were not many book stalls available in their region so we wanted to come and share this experience with them,” says Rajesh Kumar Choudhury, co-founder of Bookish Santa.
“A lot of our readers comprise students and purchasing books at a cheaper rate makes it lucrative for them to read, giving us the opportunity to spread the joy of reading,” added Choudhury.
Although the cost of hardcovers and paperbacks were set at different rates, the primary goal of the fair is to make books available at throwaway prices than they are in the market.
Buyers and Readers
The fair catered to the sensibilities of young adults, with genres like mystery, thriller, romance and fantasy, dominating the tables, there were also a large number of books that were available for children, providing a perfect opportunity for parents to inculcate the habit of reading onto their children by introducing them to authors like Charles Dickens, O. Henry, Julia Donaldson and others from classic English literature.
The youth, however, satiated their eyes to books by authors like Veronica Roth, Dan Brown and Colleen Hoover. The Harry Potter series remained a crowd favourite as the books by J.K Rowling sold out with a blink of an eye. Some of the readers would also count themselves very fortunate to find the first edition of ‘The Philosopher’s Stone’ which has become extremely tough to acquire if one goes looking for them on popular book websites too.
Cecelia Ahern, Dan Brown and Sidney Sheldon remained popular authors while common reads like ‘Girl on a Train’, ‘Twilight’ and ‘Hunger Games’ captured the reader’s attention.
Speaking to one of the attendees at the fair, Berlynia Phia shared “Fantasy was a genre that I had not delved into before so I got the opportunity to check out those books and there were some interesting finds.” The book fair also allowed the people to embark on a literary exploration into new worlds and perspectives where the readers were allowed a safe haven to step out of their comfort zones and dive headfirst into the unknown.
Choudhury had an interesting anecdote to share from his experience at the fair. There was an elderly gentleman who had come to buy the many choices of children’s books that were available on the tables in the hall. When asked whether he was buying them for his children or grandchildren, he smiled and said that it was for himself, to reminisce about his childhood days and to add to the collection of books that he had over the years!
Reading, a habit of the past?
A common memory that a lot of us have while growing up, is of one sitting in the school library scouring through the dusty shelves for books that we desired to read. While young school-going children are devoid of ‘library sessions’, much of their reading has been transferred onto the screen. “I feel reading has become a dying habit; not a lot of people come to the library anymore, maybe because information on the internet is readily available now,” said O. Rapsang, an attendee at the event.
The memory of curling up with a physical book has now steadily witnessed a shift to the digital realm where reading unfolds across the glowing screens of smartphones, tablets and e-readers. The book fair therefore serves as a reminder to recognise this shifting landscape of reading as a habit the traditional way but at the same time, respecting the coexistence of both traditional and digital formats.
“I prefer that my children read a physical book rather than one on a screen. It makes it easier for me to monitor them and it also gives them the opportunity to learn,” said Palma, another attendee and mother of three.
Classics like The Secret Seven by Enid Blyton, Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney, and Goosebumps by R.L Stine filled the shopping bags of eager parents who had come to buy books not for themselves but for their children even as they nurture their children’s love for reading and plant seeds that would bloom into a lifelong passion for reading.
Digital vs Print
It can be argued that there has been a significant shift in reading habits from print to digital format in recent years, however it would be imperative to note that even though digital reading is a recent phenomenon, printed books have not become redundant altogether. The fondness between a digital copy and printed copy still is subject to individual preferences. A report by Nielson in 2016 concluded that although the book market in India faced many challenges offered by the e-commerce industry, the market in itself was still expanding and creating jobs.
Speaking with those from the teaching fraternity the debate has an inclination towards physical books. “I prefer teaching using a physical book, but occasionally an e-book would suffice,” said Iadeishisha Kharbangar, a college teacher of St. Edmunds College. It is worth noting that reading habits often involve a mix of both print and digital formats. Numerous readers enjoy the flexibility of switching between different mediums based on their preferences and circumstances. A report from the Association of American Publishers in 2020 further supported this notion, revealing that while e-book sales had seen growth, the sales of print books indicated that they continue to hold a significant place in the reading landscape. This serves as a clear illustration of the coexistence and ongoing relevance of both formats. The existence of book clubs and online communities such as those of Bookstagram also endorse the same.
The Shillong Book Fair stands as a testament to the enduring power of literature and the unwavering dedication of readers to celebrate the diverse realms of imagination, knowledge and creativity that only a book can offer. It showcased the resilience of the printed book in the face of a digital age by providing literature enthusiasts with a space to lose themselves into the world of words. As attendees left the hallowed halls, it became evident that for many, the purest symphony lay in the hushed whispers of turning pages, as they prefer silence while reading a book to be their music of choice.
About Bookish Santa
Bookish Santa was born in 2017 with just over a 100 books sitting for sale in the room of a motivated entrepreneur. Two close friends – Choudhury and Tarun, who shared a deep love for books and reading, came together one fateful evening and decided to embark on a book-centred business venture. That very night, they launched a basic website with a basic logo created using MS Word. “By the end of the week, we started getting orders and it all began from there,” said Choudhury. It was from these humble beginnings that their initial idea gradually transformed into a full-time occupation by 2019. Although the book fair they organised is a profit-driven initiative, the earnings they generate from these events are reinvested into their technology development platform which aims to facilitate the efficient operation of book clubs and employ technology-driven software to ensure the survival of local bookstores.