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Amar Ekushey and Boi Mela

Visitors make the most of the day

Tuhin Shubhra Adhikary
It was a holiday, more importantly International Mother Language Day, yesterday. So Sikder Gias Uddin and Runa Layla, a couple with two daughters, had to make the most of the day.
At the Bangla Academy premises, Gias Uddin said his family would visit the Central Shaheed Minar to pay tribute to the language martyrs after they finished doing the round of the fair.
"We are performing twin tasks at a time today. We are here (Amar Ekushey Boi Mela) to collect books and visit the Shaheed Minar to introduce my daughters to its history and heritage", he said.
Like the Giases, many more couples and individuals had similar objectives—to observe Amar Ekushey and visit the fair on a holiday. Consequently, the fair witnessed bigger gatherings of people, most of them clad in black and white, yesterday. Salespersons at different stalls also put on black clothes in remembrance of the sacrifices of the 1952 Language Movement martyrs.
On the occasion, the academy authorities and law enforcers had addi-
tional arrangements in place. Unlike the working days, the fair opened at 8:00pm and continued till 10:00pm so that people could move between the academy premises and the Shaheed Minar.
Marking Amar Ekushey, loudspeakers were set up here and there, playing the touching song of "Amar Bhaiyer Rokte Rangano Ekushey February..."
With the larger crowds, the Boi Mela area turned into a virtual sea of people yesterday. Many of the visitors, especially women and children, were seen having tattoos of the national flag and the Shaheed Minar on their cheeks, foreheads and hands.
Amid the flood of visitors, book sales also rose high.
“Today is a special day and as in previous years, we have seen our maximum daily sale today”, said Monirul Hoque, publisher of Anannya.
Some of publishers, however, expressed dissatisfaction, saying that sales were not as good as compared to the size of the crowd.
Though the book fair took a festive look, visitors had to make their way through dust on the academy premises.
People were seen covering their noses while booksellers used masks.
Murshiduddin Anwar, deputy director of Bangla Academy, said the authorities had tried their best to control dust and sprayed water on the fair grounds last night. But huge crowds of people put paid to the effort, he added.
HIGHEST ARRIVAL
Of the last three weeks, the highest number of 255 new titles hit the fair yesterday.
Sales are soaring as the Mela draws to an end. A total 727 of new books arrived in the first week this year while 1016 came in the second week, with 1049 coming in the third week, said the academy authorities.
As many as 2792 new titles came to the fair this year in the first three weeks. The number was 2273 in 2011 and 2630 in 2010 in the same period.
The covers of 27 new books were unveiled at the fair yesterday.
Bangla Academy Chairman Prof Anisuzzaman, Communist Party President Manzurul Ahsan Khan, and Rina Farhad unveiled the covers of “Sei Eki Pother Pothik” and “Premobirjo", two books by Sadequl Islam.