B is for BOOK FAIR

boimela_5
Originally uploaded by dalbhat.

Every winter, when the sweltering heat relents and it is pleasant to be outdoors, Kolkatans start watching their newspapers for the official dates of Boi Mela, the Kolkata Book Fair. It is definitely the highlight of the winter mela (fair) season, when books and all that surround them take over a huge section of the expansive Maidan, Kolkata's largest urban green space, almost overnight in late January. Happening over a period of twelve days, Boi Mela is not unlike cherry blossom season in Japan. It climaxes and disappears before you know it.