Thaindian News

New Delhi, March 12 (IANS) Literature is the flavour of spring in the capital.
Come Saturday, the open air amphitheatre of the India Habitat Centre will play host to a flurry of literary activity woven around the week long Spring Fever 2010 - a literary festival and a showcase of modern classics by Penguin-Books India.

The highlight of the festival will be an open air library which will remain open to browsers and buyers from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. till March 21. Books, including classic titles, will be sold at a discount to promote the culture of reading meaningful literature among GenNext.

While people can browse through the library during the day, the evenings will set a different mood with reading sessions and discussions.

A session on “Mahabharata- Kal, Aaj Aur Kal” and how the epic plays out in our daily lives will be addressed by Gurcharan Das, Bibek Debroy, Namita Gokhale and Shashi Tharoor while “Dilli Ka Shayarana Andaz”, excerpts from Penguin-Yatra books and poetry of some of the capital’s famous poets down the ages will be read by Ghazala Amin and Zakia Zaheer.

A sneak preview of forthcoming books will feature readings from “One Amazing Thing” by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni; “Beatrice and Virgil” by Yann Martel; “Tiger Hills” by Sarita Mandanna and “Jimmy, the Terrorist” by Omair Ahmad.

There will also be a separate section for children.

“The concept of the open air library is unique. Every reader is welcome to browse through Penguin India books in a relaxed environment and participate in the interactive sessions during the evenings. There will be music, dramatized readings and discussions. It will capture the fun feel of spring,” Hemali Sodhi, vice-president of marketing and corporate communications, told IANS.

“Last year, we hosted an open air library with our classics titles and the response was wonderful. This year, we’ve expanded the range of the library to include a varied and diverse range of Penguin India’s publishing,” she said.