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The Chinar Book Festival started from 18th July and is ongoing till 26th July 2026, and truly, it has been an amazing experience being part of such an event. It’s not just any event, but one where one feels compelled to take some time out to reflect on the need of having events like this. The personal involvement in this festival has really helped me look at the festival differently than what I would have done had I visited the event without any involvement. Being personally involved in this event means that you see things differently, listen to the conversations happening around, the excitement in people’s faces when they find a book they did not want in the first place.
However, what caught my attention the most was not the sheer volume of books but the people there. People are coming from all around Delhi, UP, Lucknow, and many other places of the nation, all for one reason – this festival. Think of it for a moment. People are preparing themselves by packing their bags and buying tickets, just to go to another city in order to read some books together. I found it amazing to witness how random strangers from different cities connect over something they all share – reading. A person from Lucknow talking to a person from Delhi about a book or an author, both not knowing each other just an hour before. I realized that this festival is not only an affair for people of this city. Gradually, it is turning into a place where people from all over India gather in order to discuss literature regardless of the distances between them.
In my opinion, there is nothing better at this time than experiencing the presence of books and literature lovers in one place. Such atmosphere cannot be found either in ordinary bookstores or in Internet sales. There is something special about having such a physical event, with lots of stalls and people going through the shelves at their own pace.
One such line which stayed with me while browsing through all the book stalls was a saying in Urdu which stated, “Qaum ki tameer kitabon se hoti hai, tohfon se nahi”, which means that nation building takes place through reading books and not through gifts. It is quite a simple line but makes sense when one is present in the midst of so many book stalls and sees people turning through pages out of sheer curiosity. It made me realize how easy it is for us to relate everything with physical material objects, gifts and gadgets whereas the actual essence of nation building may be lying somewhere else. It is lying within what people read, what they think about and their outlook towards life.
That is precisely why I feel such festivals have so much significance. While sales figures or the number of people who visit these events does matter for the organizers and publishing companies, there is much more to it. The significance here lies in how such festivals change people’s outlooks. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that it is imperative that families and friends visit such places not just to buy a few books but also expand their horizons of perception. Books are a rather silent way of making a person perceive the world differently. The kid who visits such a festival and picks up a book today may well become a regular reader for his entire life ahead. Meanwhile, when parents go through such festivals together with their kids, they set an excellent example which cannot be created by any lectures.
The special factor that makes this year’s festival different is the inclusion of great personalities who have come to interact directly with the students. While reading a book is one thing, sitting and interacting directly with the authors of books or with those people who have been thinking deeply about certain topics for years on end and asking them questions is something else entirely. This can be a discussion which actually has the power to change the mindsets of young individuals forever. The mind of a student who has interacted with a writer or a scholar is never the same again even after the festival. And if the shift in mindset occurs on a large scale, even on a small scale, for many of the students participating in the festival, it can make a huge difference for the entire country in the future to come.
The Chinar Book Festival is scheduled to continue for some days, until the date 26th July 2026. It is worth making time for visiting this festival, as it is not just about the books but everything that comes along with them. It is all about sharing thoughts and ideas with others on one shelf.
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