Book Fair

Book Stalls

Busy with Books

The book fair at Bajo Higher Secondary school’s ground commenced from 10^th April and ended on 14^th April, There were about 35 bookstalls. The book fair was organized by the KMT printer and publishing house. The fair was organized for schools of Western Bhutan, for Dzongkhags like Thimphu, Punakha, Paro, Chukha, Samtse, Sarpang, Zhemgang, Wangdi Phodrang and others. Hundreds of schools’ principals, teachers, and library assistants came to purchase books for their schools’ libraries.

There were many contemporary books which looked beautiful outerly. The books also come in the form of illustrations, graphic designs, comics, etc. Almost all classic books are abridged, shorten, and summarized. I love the various spices of books; there were books about professional developments, like Robin Sharma, skills development, literature, sportsbooks, science and technology, sex books, etc. 

There were books from Bhutan. Many books authored by Bhutanese sold like hotcakes, though it was pricey. There was one Bhutanese author, who advertised his thin book to the customers. He looked so cheap; he begged anyone to buy his books. And this is the problem in Bhutan, after working hard, after lots of complicated processes of publication, his/her work is wasted; wasted utterly that an author becomes poorer, peevish, meaningless, and becomes insignificant. Our readers must support these authors.

Our school buys books every year. This year too, the school bought books worth about two lakhs and fourteen thousand. Our school library was in charge and I went to purchase books. We bought books from eight bookstalls. We equally divided our budget to them. I feel this book fair is a good chance to make money from book enterprises and book shops.

The book fair is conducted every year. It is usually organized in Mongar for Eastern Dzongkhags and Bajo for Western Dzongkhags. Many people were talking about the change of place and the frequent need for this type of book fair. It is true that to promote reading habits, to promote knowledge, and make knowledge-based society; there is a need of promoting frequently in different places.

Rights to Write

Writers in ancient times were known as the great creator (makers), philosophers, and constituters of society. Aristotle, Plato, Homer - to name a few-were glorified.

The Death of the Writer and the Death of the Reader

Art and literary works were considered as unique creations of the artists but for long time. People were serious about the purpose of producing art and literary works. Shakespeare, Milton, Hardy, Wordsworth, Keats, Dickens, Brontes, etc, bore a deep meaning. Dramas, novels, poetry, and books predominated society.

Now, in this era called the postmodernist, every Tom, Dick, and Harry or every Sonam, Tashi, and Pema is a writer. With the onset of computers, media and advancements in technology, television and computers are dominating society. People no longer believe in art and literary works bearing one unique meaning; they would rather believe in deriving their own meanings from pieces of art and literature. It is the time when everybody writes, but nobody reads. Interactive media and the Internet led to the distribution of knowledge.  Copying and preservation of art and literary works by the means of digital media is the means of an artist becoming less popular.

A dying reading habit because of modern amenities looks like there is no future for a writer. Our youth are carried away by ‘mouse,’ ‘robotics,’  ‘trends,’ ‘phoning phone,’  ‘dinky-hinky,’ ‘kinky-pinky’ life, nets, etc, not ‘inky-bingo’ life. And men are occupied by ‘minting monies,’ ‘gambling-wagering,’ ‘whoring-pourboire.’ Where is the scope of the writer to be appreciated in this environment?

I wish and is selflessly dedicate many writers to write, promoters to promote, readers to read, and to conquer by words. But the truth is readers have conquered words and words have no meaning to them. Writers, therefore, have a bleak future.