JAMSHEDPUR: Stall (no. 66) near one of the entrance gates of the Jamshedpur Book Fair selling books in Santali language is still eagerly waiting for its first customer.
Even after the weekend, which like every year, witnessed highest footfall of book lovers and visitors at the 10-day 37th book fair which kicked off in Jamshedpur on Friday amidst much fanfare, not a single book has been purchased from the neatly well-stacked shelves, lamented Jairam Tudu, the in-charge of the stall.
Tudu, talking to TOI, said this year, the owner of a Santali book stall in Karandih on the fringes of the Steel City decided to put up a stall for the first time in the book fair. He said the book shelf has a wide variety of fiction and non-fiction books many of which have been penned by local authors. He said the aim was to give Santali books, written in Oli Chiki script, a much-needed publicity at the book fair.
He said even in a tribal state like Jharkhand, very few people know about the Oli Chiki script as this is not widely taught even in state-run schools. Tudu said many people in tribal villages here can speak in Santali but they cannot read or write Oli Chiki script as it is not taught in educational institutions.
He said many young generation visitors at the fair, after entering the stall, looked in amazement after picking up the books written in Oli Chiki script.
Nimisha Singh, a Class VIII student from a private English-medium school, was seen asking Tudu if the books were written in some foreign language. Tudu said he had faced several such questions from young visitors from day 1 of the fair.
Tudu added that many parents accompanying their kids after entering the stall demanded books written in Devanagari script or English. He said stall also has Santali books written in Oli Chiki but translated into Devanagari script on the opposite page, but those, too, are waiting for takers.
Shyam Charan Tudu, author of several Santali books, some of which are on display and up for sale at the book fair, said only those boys and girls who pursue Santali as a subject in schools and colleges visit his book store in Karandih. Shyam, who owns a book store in Karandih said, “There are only a few colleges which teach Santali language in Kolhan as only a handful of students opt for the subject.” He said even in a tribal state, not much is done for the development of the language.
He said even proper teachers are not available in colleges, so many students from this area who want to study Santali have to enrol in Vidyasagar University in neighbouring West Bengal.
The fate of books in other tribal languages like Ho and Mundari is no better. The books in these languages are shyly peeping out and trying their best to make their presence felt on the shelves of another book stall at the fair.
Kakoli Mukherjee, a teacher, said though at the political level, several promises are made that education should be promoted in mother tongue to stonewall school dropouts in remote villages, the ground situation is different. She said a lot needs to be done by the government to promote education in tribal languages in village schools.
Even after the weekend, which like every year, witnessed highest footfall of book lovers and visitors at the 10-day 37th book fair which kicked off in Jamshedpur on Friday amidst much fanfare, not a single book has been purchased from the neatly well-stacked shelves, lamented Jairam Tudu, the in-charge of the stall.
Tudu, talking to TOI, said this year, the owner of a Santali book stall in Karandih on the fringes of the Steel City decided to put up a stall for the first time in the book fair. He said the book shelf has a wide variety of fiction and non-fiction books many of which have been penned by local authors. He said the aim was to give Santali books, written in Oli Chiki script, a much-needed publicity at the book fair.
He said even in a tribal state like Jharkhand, very few people know about the Oli Chiki script as this is not widely taught even in state-run schools. Tudu said many people in tribal villages here can speak in Santali but they cannot read or write Oli Chiki script as it is not taught in educational institutions.
He said many young generation visitors at the fair, after entering the stall, looked in amazement after picking up the books written in Oli Chiki script.
Nimisha Singh, a Class VIII student from a private English-medium school, was seen asking Tudu if the books were written in some foreign language. Tudu said he had faced several such questions from young visitors from day 1 of the fair.
Tudu added that many parents accompanying their kids after entering the stall demanded books written in Devanagari script or English. He said stall also has Santali books written in Oli Chiki but translated into Devanagari script on the opposite page, but those, too, are waiting for takers.
Shyam Charan Tudu, author of several Santali books, some of which are on display and up for sale at the book fair, said only those boys and girls who pursue Santali as a subject in schools and colleges visit his book store in Karandih. Shyam, who owns a book store in Karandih said, “There are only a few colleges which teach Santali language in Kolhan as only a handful of students opt for the subject.” He said even in a tribal state, not much is done for the development of the language.
He said even proper teachers are not available in colleges, so many students from this area who want to study Santali have to enrol in Vidyasagar University in neighbouring West Bengal.
The fate of books in other tribal languages like Ho and Mundari is no better. The books in these languages are shyly peeping out and trying their best to make their presence felt on the shelves of another book stall at the fair.
Kakoli Mukherjee, a teacher, said though at the political level, several promises are made that education should be promoted in mother tongue to stonewall school dropouts in remote villages, the ground situation is different. She said a lot needs to be done by the government to promote education in tribal languages in village schools.
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