Book fair 2014 and some nostalgia

Book fair has lost it's charm for me. I came here for some work but then my friends were late so I entered and walked around to see if I could get back my years and years of stored up nostalgia. I didn't. I didn't feel anything. I don't feel excitement at seeing so many stalls; I don't feel any kind of joy that I have felt earlier. 

Today. there are so many more avenues for me to buy books. There's flipkart. And family friends with bookstores who give you discount throughout the year. And the annual British Council sale where you get books dirt cheap, literally. The book fair does not offer me something new, something different.

The premises are huge, ofcourse. It's held at Milan Mela. Which is bang opposite science city and ITC sonar bangla Hotel. So, pretty accessible location. A huge crowd of people are here. It's a big thing here; not as big as Durga Puja but it's still a pretty big deal in Calcutta. It's also become a touristy picnic-y thing to do. And people in Calcutta are generally book lovers. Well, most bongs are (sorry for the stereotyping ) 

Booked

I don't like reading e-books for the same reason I don't  cover my books to protect them. I like to look at the cover when I take a book in my hand. 

I like the feel of books. Correction,I love the feel of books. I love the slight ruffling sound of turning the pages when waiting to savour the next few words. And the task of remembering the page number for the next time you read it. 


Like a typical bookworm I like the smell of old books. And I won't trade those yellowed, musty pages for a just out edition. There is something about old books which can't be replaced by the fresh out of the print edition.


The first book I remember reading was a musical version of " Goldilocks and the three bears". The book had a few switches for a bear's growl and other sounds with instructions at the appropriate places to press the switch. It was very exciting and became more of a toy than a book. I think I read it everyday just to get a chance to listen to the 'grrr' sound of the bears. 


My second favourite was "Red riding hood". I loved that story. (Aside remark: I also wondered if the 'big bad wolf' of that story and the 'big bad wolf' of "Three little pigs" were the same)


Another  favourite activity as a kid was making bookmarks. I was forever creating bookmarks out of old greeting cards. I still have some of them, tucked away at a corner somewhere. 

Ownership of books is important to bookworms. Borrowing a favourite book from the library just wont do! Spending money on stuff is difficult for me, but when I really, really want a book I don't blink an eyelid before taking out my wallet. 


I am the kind of person who will head instinctively towards the book section in a store; take out interesting looking books; read their blurb and type the names of books in my cell. And then, when I am back home I will add those names to my "books to read" list. Ah, yes, the list is long and yeah I tick off the books once I have read them.


Some people say that us bookworms are lost in their own world and don't know an iota of what is happening in the world outside the book they are currently reading. I feel, that we understand the world much better than other people. Reading makes us more perceptive than people imagine us to be. We know better than others that failure is not the end; that roses don't come without thorns; and that all stories need not have happy endings.

The HP craze!

The fifth book came a long time after. The first movie had released by then. And Daniel Radcliffe became one lucky guy- he got to play the famous boy wizard AND got an instant female fan following. I was 12 when the 1^st movie came out. A few girls in my class started calling themselves Mrs. Radcliffe.

I remember a memorable incident that took place at that time. We had a senior, a year older. She was a tomboy, had cropped hair and wore specs. One day few of us saw her on the field from our 1^st floor classroom window. Bang! She totally looked like Harry Potter.( we thought so then) That did it. One girl developed a crush on her. We all trooped in between classes to catch a glimpse of her. Breaks were spent looking out for her. We even knew her routine! We followed her everywhere. She naturally felt harassed. She told us off, even complained to our teacher. We calmed down for a while. 


One day some of us came up with an idea. They bought a cake on 31^st July and told her to cut it! That certainly was the last straw.  She complained to the Headmistress.  No action was taken though. We heaved a sigh of relief. Final exams came soon and we all went up a class.

In the 1^st week of the new session ‘she’ arrived. With the Headmistress. To identify her harassers. Oh God! Somehow she didn't  recognize me. Good for me!

Anyway, the craziness had just begun. Over time we HP fans started calling ourselves Hard-core HP fans as we wanted to distinguish ourselves from the HP movie lovers. And the love for everything HP related continues…

P.S – Class 6 being high school we were reshuffled into new houses. When my turn came all I wanted was to be in Red house, the closest I could be to being a Gryffindor. And guess what? I did get chosen for the Red house!

P.S again : I later realised that I was more of a Ravenclaw than A Gryffindor. I am now A Pottermore certified Ravenclaw.  

Growing up with the wizard with specs

I was in class five then. My friend Pratiti told me about a great new book- Harry Potter. She told me I absolutely have to read it! Somehow her excitement intrigued me. When my bhua came for a visit and asked me what I wanted I asked for the first three Harry Potter books. And thus my odyssey began.

“ Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, at number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. “

That’s the first line. I didn’t move my eyes from the pages till I reached the last line. I couldn’t sleep, couldn’t eat. It was frenzy, my first reading of Harry Potter.  

I remember I read through the night and went to school the next day. And I wasn’t even drowsy. That was the level of my excitement. After seventeen chapters and loads of awe filled moments I was hooked!

I couldn’t wait to get back home and read the 2^nd book. How intriguing is a name like “chamber of secrets” be? Pretty intriguing.

Soon  had read all three books. My mother promised to buy me the fourth book if I did well in my finals. Best incentive ever!

By then a proper fan club had been formed in our school. India too had discovered the most popular bespectacled boy and the HP craze was all over the news. The Chosen One had arrived.

Its been 11 years and The Boy Who Lived has never bored me. Ever time I re- read the books I discover something new. And the Adrenaline rush I get whenever I talk about HP has not decreased a bit.

I don’t think I will forget the year ever. It was 2001 and I became a Harry Potter fan. For life.