Hyderabad: Literary Festival Draws Massive Opening Day Crowds

Hyderabad: Book lovers in the age of social media flocked to the 38th Hyderabad Book Fair, organised at NTR Stadium, on its inaugural day on Friday.

Families, students, teachers and senior citizens were seen walking through the stalls, browsing shelves filled with books in Telugu, English, Urdu and other languages covering a variety of subjects and topics.

Many visitors said the fair gave them a rare chance to explore a variety of books at affordable prices. Several stalls were offering hefty discounts, attracting young readers and parents looking to encourage reading habits in children.

“This book fair is like a dream for students like me. I usually cannot afford many books, but here I can find so many good titles at lower prices. I picked up a bunch of second hand books as well. It inspires me to read more,” said a young college student who was visiting the fair on Friday.

Publishers and stall owners expressed happiness over the strong response on the first day. “We’re positive we’ll have more visitors and buyers on weekends and the coming days. Readers are showing great interest, especially in regional language books,” Pandu Ranga Reddy, a store manager said.

Tourism minister Jupally Krishna Rao, inaugurating the annual book festival, said such expos should not be limited to Hyderabad and must be organised in all districts and announced ₹3 crore for the purpose, allocating ₹10 lakh per district. He also announced ₹1 crore for supplying new books to district libraries.

The organisers have planned literary talks, book launches and interactive sessions with authors during the fair, making it more than just a marketplace for books.

Speaking with Deccan Chronicle, treasurer P. Narayana Reddy said: “Tomorrow (Saturday) we have a wide range of programmes, cultural activities and book launches. The Hyderabad Book Fest is inaugurating a book on Kancha Ilaiah, Bugga Mallaiah is launching his ‘Anna Ganam’, and several publishers also have their book launches lined up. Post 5 pm, we will have cultural programmes and other activities.”