It was evident that today's generation prefers to spend quality time at any of the numerous Cafe Coffee Days' or a multiplex or just window shopping at glitzy malls or under the sheets in a room next to their parent's bedroom!
Young gaudily dressed liberated women were the only ones who were seen smoking vociferously sitting on the tiled grounds.
The typical Bengali 'aatels' (read, intellectuals) were very few and their absence was tell-tale.
Engineering colleges and Universities trying to sell the American dreams to pathetically mediocre students were hard pressed for footfalls into their respective stalls.
The entire event has become more of a 'food fair'.
Most of the well-stocked book stalls wore a deserted look with just a handful of visitors seen loitering aimlessly inside!
I myself had no intention of buying any books whatsoever even on impulse and had purposely carried a meagre sum of Rs185 only in cash and left behind the plastic money at home.
If at all I would have found any books of interest, I would have come back home and ordered the same online at a hefty discount.
Bumping into #Pats76 school batchmate Bibhas Biswas and his wife Ajanta Biswas at the fair grounds made the evening even more enjoyable.
Kolkata's famous Book Fair, if treated as a product, is at the declining stage of a Product Life Cycle. It's high time that strategies are worked out for its revival before it meets the proverbial watery grave!
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