The twelfth day of the month-long book fair “Amar Ekushey Grantha Mela” saw a large gathering of book lovers as it fell on the weekly holiday. Publishers and other participants said they are hopeful that the beginning of Spring today, the first day Bengali month Falgun, will also bring blessings for the fair. The gates opened early today and in the morning, a good number of children accompanied by their guardians came to the Bangla Academy premises to celebrate the 3rd ‘Sishu Prahar’, a special children’s event of the fair.
Children also took part at a function hosted by a publishing house that brought out the popular TV serial Sisimpur. The programme started at around 11:00 am at the Abdul Karim Sayitaya Bisharad auditorium of the Bangla Academy.
Some prominent Sisimpur characters including Haloom, Ikri, Tuktuki and Shiku performed and discussed different issued on the stage that was decorated colourfully. Characters of the Sisimpur also took part at a photo session with the guests and participants. Sabbir Hossain, a bank official who brought his six-year old daughter Alif to the fair, told The Independent that he had worried about his child as she used to watch cartoons like Doraemon on TV most of the time. “But now she can watch educational programmes like Sisimpur”, he said.
Cultural Affairs Minister Asaduzzaman Noor, who was present at the programme, at one stage interacted with the characters of Sisimpur to encourage children at the programme. “Only text books are not enough to ensure proper mental growth of children and this the reason why guardians should introduce their children to various other subjects including such types of informative TV serial,” the minister told the audience. Later, USA Ambassador to Dhaka Marcia Stephens Bernicat also interacted with the Sisimpur characters on stage. The US ambassador said books help people learn about their culture and tradition and allows the building of an enhanced person. Earlier in the day, the primary round of children’s singing competition was on the academy premises at around 9.30am with the participation of over 200 contestants. Noted singer Papia Sarwar was present there as the chief guest. The final round of the competition will be held on February 19. In the afternoon, the fair ground and adjacent areas, including the Dhaka University campus, got flooded with huge book enthusiasts. The book fair authorities have taken extra security measures ahead of the celebrations of Pahela Falgun today and Valentine’s Day tomorrow, said Bangla Academy Secretary General Jalal Uddin. Meanwhile, a total of  280 new titles hit the shelves at the fair on the 12th day. A discussion titled “Golden Jubilee  of Bangla Academy: research on Rebel poet Nazrul in Bangladesh” was also held yesterday.