Random Talk : The Book Fair!!

Books have been defined as many things. They have been called man’s best friend, they have been called gateways into dreams and paradoxically they have also been called a mirror that you use to examine yourself. But, if you ask me, I would say that books are a peek into the Improbable. A key hole through which we can see worlds that could have been and also look into the minds of people, both real and fictional. Ever since I have remembered, before all other forms of entertainment I have always been attached to books. There are so many words have captivated me and they have shaped me into who I am today.

Every year, there is a huge book fair that takes place in Chennai, and almost every year, with the exception of the past three years, I have visited the place. A palace of books, all keyholes into different worlds, and every key had a price. For those of you who know me, you know that I am not someone who spends a lot of money, irrespective of whether I have it or not, so most of the time, the books I do choose to buy, I do with a lot of deliberation.

Around the year 2010, when I was in sixth grade, I started buying second hand books, partly because they were cheaper, but also because, I could never believe that someone would give up a book. To me the thought almost seemed criminal. This developed into a habit, and every year, I would go to the book fair, look at the books inside, not spend a penny, cross the road and buy a truck load of second hand books at incredibly low prices.

Tenth grade came, and my focus had no choice but to shift to studies. I didn’t go to the fair. This continued on to the next year and again to the next. The tradition was broken, and with my dad shifting to E Books, I soon followed. While I have to admit I miss holding and feeling and relishing a book page by page, E Books are that much more convenient. If I just so happen to be reading a two thousand page novel, I can’t keep chugging it around, but with an E book I can just put it in my phone and be on my way.

It was also around the tenth grade that I really started realizing that I had a penchant for collecting things that I liked a lot. It didn’t matter what it was; a stamp, a pen, a rusty pocket knife; as long as it told a story it was fair game. And what told better stories than a book? I had started getting into crime fiction and I really wanted to collect and read all of Patricia Cornwell’s books. I vowed to never read their E book versions and, only after finding second hand copies and buying every one of her books, would I read them in chronological order.

A week later I broke the vow and started reading them all on my PC. But I still wanted to find and collect physical copies of every one of them. Over the next three years I tried and collected three of her books; a dismal effort, on my part.  

But with the beginning of 2017 a lot of stuff changed. I was doing something I loved and I was working on improving myself in every aspect of life. This meant I had to really get back on the reading high I was on before twelfth hit me like a loaded freight train. Call it coincidence, call it luck, or maybe even destiny, I got an amazing opportunity. Through my HOD I got the chance to work at the Chennai Annual Book Fair. It would be the understatement of the century, if I said I was excited.

The stall in question was for an organization called Cuemath. Cuemath is an Indian organization based in six cities all over India and its goal is to teach children from Kinder Garden to Eighth grade math concepts in a fun and interesting way. While I disliked math with a passion, I agreed to the work because it was, for me, a chance to experience something completely different.

My job was to basically do data entry and data management for the stall along with the occasional pitching to the parents about the course that Cuemath was offering. While I still don’t like math, I loved the experience of working in Cuemath. It gave me a lot of exposure and I also met so many amazing people along the way. I liked working so much that I ended up working a lot more hours than I originally intended, and while it was so tiring, I loved every minute of the experience.

What this experience also helped me with, was fulfilling my quest of collecting all of Patricia Cornwell’s books. Not a day went by when I didn’t go book hunting and I ended up finding twenty one of her books that I didn’t have for such incredible prices. Along the way, I also picked up a few books that caught my eye and in the end, over the course of fourteen days and just under two thousand bucks, which is pretty cheap all things considered, I bought a grand total of forty one books, l some of which are in pristine condition and some of which are also hard cover.

Thousand eight hundred and fifty rupees spent, thousand four hundred and thirty data entries, forty one books, fourteen days, so many amazing people and one invaluable experience later, I can safely say that I have started the new year on an amazingly positive note.

Hopefully this will continue. Until next time,

Sayonara!!!