BANGALORE: If rare books by the likes of Shivaram Karanth and Maxim Gorky interest you, Pustaka Parishe was the place to be in. Organised by Shrushti Ventures and Anubhavashaale, the fourth edition of the unique book fair in held in Basavanagudi on Sunday had more than one lakh books up for grabs. The uniqueness here was that no book was sold. Each visitor could pick any one book for free.Dr Siddalingaiah, chairman, Kannada Book Authority, presided over the inauguration of the Parishe. Being an acclaimed writer himself, he articulated the importance of books in an individual’s life and the society. “Books make a man more human. They drive him away from vices, cruelty and other evils. Countries like Germany and Soviet Russia had banned several books. Some deserving books are still unavailable in a few Asian countries. But this Parishe has given us an opportunity to drown in the wealth of knowledge books hold,” he said.Pustaka Parishe was first held in January 2010. What started as a closed event with only 7,000 books has now become public, offering more than 1 lakh books, whose titles range from classic novels, collections, biographies, autobiographies, academic texts and so on.“This is the first time the Parishe has been held publicly. The previous three were held in the premises of Shrushti Ventures,” said Nagaraj Navunda, the brain behind this initiative. The Parishe is not a commercial venture, he says, as the goal is to only encourage the young into the habit of reading. “We will not sell books in the Parishe. Our idea is to promote reading. A lot of research goes into an initiative like this,” he said.Amid enquiries on why the Parishe was a one-day event, he said, “This forces people to make a commitment, as they would be aware that the event is just a one-day affair. People would try to make themselves free for this.”Also present during the inauguration was Dr Marulasiddappa, prominent Kannada writer and critique. He called the Parishe a contemporary initiative, which is in line with Basavanagudi’s popular Kadalekai (Peanut) Parishe. “Books open the eyes of our conscience, and this goes beyond nations and time,” he said.B S Sathyanarayana, councillor of Basavanagudi, announced that the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) had announced an aid of `2 lakhs towards the initiative. “The Palike has been giving aid to useless organisations and initiatives. However, once this year’s budget is approved, Pustaka Parishe will get `2 lakhs from the BBMP,” said Satyanarayana.
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