Bangalore Book Festival 2013

[Updated 29.11.2013 7.35 pm]  This event has been called off by the organizers.
[Updated 07.12.2013 10:05 pm] Book Fest may be held in Jan (link)
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My Original Post:
The much awaited Bangalore Book Festival 2013 will start from 29th November.  The grand event is scheduled at Tripura Vasani, Palace Grounds, Bangalore.
The exhibition is between 29th Nov - 8th Dec.
This will be the much awaited event of the year for the book lovers and bibliophiles. The event normally starts in the October and also spread for more than 2 weeks.  However, this time it happens only for 10 days.  The public will get two weekends to visit this book exhibition.
Approximately under 300 stalls, the books are expected to be in English and all Indian languages. Usually, the book stalls give a discount of 20% - this is far lesser than online shopping.  But I personally encourage buying from stores regularly to support the publishing community.
I wish the book exhibition differentiates itself beyond regular and popular books. We also would like to see rare books, unique ones. Also, bibliophiles would love to see bookshelves.  Self Publishing companies and City Libraries also should make their presence wide.
I am looking forward for the event.

[ADDED] Some more personal links:
My daughter Diya at Bangalore Book Festival 2010
Diya exploring the stage in Bangalore Book Festival 2008 (she was 2 years then)

Girls need protection in public places

Here is an another story of molestation to a young tailor - a girl working in a garment factory.  She wast not just molested but also thrown out of the train. She managed to stay alive with some severe injuries but is our law strong enough to prevent such incidents recurring. The culprits have been identified; but they may be let of few hundreds and thousands after several days of dragging the case. If there are enough evidences, they should be put under rigorous punishment serving as a lesson for others.

Here is the narration from the victim -
I am a tailor at the Hinduja Garments factory in Bangalore. I was going to my home town, Mysore. When the train was approaching Maddur station, four youths began teasing me and sexually harassing me. They passed lewd remarks and tried to molest me. When I protested and threatened that I would inform police about their misbehaviour, they pushed me out of the moving train. I fell on the rocky ground and lost consciousness. When I regained my consciousness, I was under medical care. I was in acute pain and there was blood all over my body.

Read more on TOI page: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bangalore/Girl-molested-thrown-out-of-train-in-Karnataka/articleshow/15133349.cms



Also, the railways should ensure adequate police force travelling to protect the passengers in train. Not just police, even medical emergency system also should be available. I recall the TV newsreader and actor Varadharajan submitted a request to the then President Dr.APJ highlighting the need for medical emergency in trains when his family member had an emergency during travel.

Lalbagh Mango Festival

There is a mango festival in Lalbagh. Its a welcome exhibition. We got to see a variety of mangoes. But the vendors could have passed on some price discount to the visitors. Also, some explicitly declared "carbide free". Does that mean other mangoes are ripened through carbide and other artificial way?  Except for the shop banners, most of the places were in Kannada. The welcome arch, the mangoes title board in the glass house were in Kannada. The organizers should not think that only Kannadas will visit the show. There are visitors from other states and other countries. Overall, I felt the 'grandness' was missing, while the intent of the show is really appreciable.