Hyderabad: The second day of the Hyderabad Book Fair (HBF) was teeming with new and old readers, making their way to the stalls packed with books. The HBF Society also organised some thoughtful sessions with senior writers.
"There are about 350 stalls, of which 210 are exclusive Telugu stalls. Others include books in other languages such as English, Hindi, Urdu and others. The average expected footfall per day is about 50,000. This year, we have also decided to open the stalls two hours earlier, around 12 noon. In the previous years, timings used to be 2 pm to 9 pm," said Vinod, one of the organisers.
The evening started with the launch of Pavan Santhosh Surampudi's ‘Nede Choodandi: Telugollu, Cinimalu, Oka Charitra’. The book delineates the history of Telugu cinema, which has evolved over a century, reflecting societal changes like wars, independence, land reforms, migration and the rise of the middle class. The book highlights influences on cinema, heroes rising from humble beginnings and censorship shaped by Mahatma Gandhi's views.
The book launch was followed by an engaging session, ‘Books That Inspired’, bringing together literary enthusiasts and prominent authors to share their thoughts on transformative books.
The session was presided over by Nandini Sidda Reddy and featured speakers such as Naleshwaram Shankar, C. Veerender, Tayamma Karuna, Mudraboyina Rachana and Vajhala Sivakumar. Oddiraju Praveen Kumar moderated the session.
Speaking at the event, Nandini Sidda Reddy described the joy of reading saying, "For book lovers, this is a celebration. Books used to be considered ornaments for the hand. But a book is not just an adornment for the hand; it is an ornament for the mind. Holding a book lights up your hand, and its essence illuminates your mind."
Tayamma Karuna reflected on Karl Marx’s Das Kapital, "Reading it opened my eyes to the injustice around us — who labours, who profits and how workers are often deprived of their due. It also made me appreciate the works of Ravi Sastry and Kodavatiganti Kutumbarao."
Mudraboyina Rachana spoke about the impact of Dr B.R. Ambedkar’s Annihilation of Caste, stating, "It helped me understand societal discrimination and the parallels between caste and gender-based oppression."
The book fair is an attraction for new and young readers. "I am interested in cinema, so I picked up K. Hariharan's biography of Kamal Haasan. I have been trying to find this book online but finally found it here. I also bought ‘The Godfather’ by Mario Puzo," said Praveen, a student from St Joseph PG Degree College.
Jelisha, another student from the same college, said that going to HBF had been a family tradition. "There is not much difference from previous years but this time I see a lot more religious books," she told Deccan Chronicle.
Rajnandini, a homemaker, was busy shopping for her husband. "I am not much of a reader, but my husband likes to read a lot of fiction," she said.
The readers have a wide range of genres to choose from: children's literature, young adult fiction, political and social history books and classics. There were also some stalls dedicated to science-related books.
