The initial response to the ongoing book fair organized by Ashish Book Centre at Sunder Bai Hall, New Marine Lines, clearly indicates that Mumbai has no shortage of book aficionados.
With more than 2 lakh popular titles available under one roof at an 85% discount, it appears to be the perfect place to stockpile books for the summer. For instance, the India Travel Guide (Lonely Planet) usually sold at Rs1500 can be availed at a discounted price of Rs500.
Worldwide best-sellers and excellent works by reputed authors which are normally priced at Rs 500 and above, can be obtained here for just Rs50 and Rs100.
A comprehensive range of encyclopaedias is also available at amazing discounts during the book fair, which is being held up to May 3, 2010 from 9 30 am to 8 30 pm.
Book lovers can choose from a wide range of categories and subjects including advertising, architecture, art, beauty, cookery, computers, fashion, fiction, non-fiction, health, history, management, photography, sports, textiles, travels, and more. There’s also an extensive collection of children’s books.
Damji Nishar, Proprietor, Ashish Book Centre, who has been in the business for a decade, organising this exhibition at the same venue since the past several years, revealed that on the first day of the exhibition, he received feedback from more than 3,000 readers and 5000 plus books were sold on day one.
“These days, people are more health conscious, as the result of which most of books on health related topics are expected to be sold. There are more than 1 lakh books in each category. This exhibition is ideal for parents as the lowest prices enable them to buy many more of their children’s favourite books in the minimum budget. It’s a not-to-be missed opportunity to avail other great books at unimaginable prices. You can find a never-before collection of books here at a never-before price,” he pointed out.
According to him, it is heart warming to see a generation hooked on the Internet, movies and television reaching out for books in both, fiction and non-fiction categories.
Instead of waiting to see the film version of a popular novel, a rising number of Mumbaikars have begun to buy, read and discuss the novel itself. Quality is another factor pulling in the crowds. "Our book fairs at Sunderbai Hall have been rousing successes because people want to get the original book instead of a pirated copy. It takes a well-planned and equally well-executed fair with hefty discounts on popular books that are currently still on the top reading lists, to really pull in the serious book aficionados," he emphasised.
