NEW DELHI, February 9: Nitin greets you as you enter the book fair premises on Pragati Maidan. He is dressed in a yellow tunic which bears the names of Cadbury's, Pustak Mahal, Condex Computer Publishers and a host of others. He hands you a discount coupon. And you realize that there's more to the World Book Fair than just books. For people like Nitin, the fair means an opportunity to make an extra buck and have some fun at the same time.Accessories, promotional gimmicks, the hunks and the pretty women behind the counters, and the traditional organiser-stall-owner disputes - these are just as much a part of the book fair as the books are.This year, if you are observant enough and if you can avoid tripping over the covered manhole in front of the Abhinav Publications stall, you can find some very interesting gift items made of hand-made paper. There are letter pads, envelopes and paper bags. The prices range from Rs 25 to Rs 60 for these articles. And if you have a knack at lip-reading (a euphemism foreavesdropping), you might just hear Mr Malik from the stall calling the authorities on his cordless about the covered manhole that juts out tripping people.As you pass on to the Motilal Banarsidass stall, you might see Rakesh, all of 11 years, sliding in a CD-Rom and clicking through it as his father asks the man in charge about the technicalities. Motilal Banarsidass are into marketing CD-Roms on Indian culture and civilisation. Sales figures are nothing to get excited over, but the trend is catching on, says R.P. Jain when you interrupt his conversation with Rakesh's father and ask about it. The titles range in price from Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,000.As you wend your way through the lane between the rows of shops, a glossy pack catches your attention. You stop at the side of the small stall of S.K. Publishers to find out what it is. It is a gift set, the salesman explains. It contains several small, glossy booklets for children, dealing with the human body, the earth, inventions, explorations and so on. Aninteresting way to learn.!Time is running out; so you get out of the hall and begin walking towards the exit. You see a couple of colourfully dressed kids yanking at their parents' grasps and trying to follow someone who looks like the Pied Piper of Hamelin. ``Balloons from U.S.A. at stall number 822'' announces a sign around the neck of this man who has two heart-shaped balloons flying from his cap.From somewhere behind you, you hear someone (from Calcutta?) commenting on how the WBF lacks the festive air of the Calcutta Book Fair. ``It doesn't feel like a mela'', or something close to that, she says in Bengali. You turn back and see that it is the pretty girl whose eye you had been trying to catch all day across the rows of books. So now, you have something to start a conversation with! You begin to casually slow your pace, waiting for her to catch up.
