Silchar: The Assam Book Fair returned to Silchar on Monday, drawing teachers, students, writers, publishers, and a steady stream of readers to the Police Parade Ground. The ten-day event is being organised by the Publication Board Assam and the All Assam Publishers and Book Sellers Association, which described Silchar as one of the state’s most enthusiastic reading hubs.

Here’s what set the tone. Education minister Dr. Ranoj Pegu, attending the inauguration as chief guest, used his address to unpack the long arc of human communication. He traced the roots of documentation back to what he described as the cognitive leap in Homo sapiens nearly 75,000 years ago, when early humans began sharing knowledge through language, belief systems, and shared practices.

According to him, civilisations moved forward because they preserved ideas, and gaps in documentation still trouble many societies, including ours.

He spoke at length about the evolution of early writing systems and the journeys of both Assamese and Bengali languages. Then he brought the conversation back to the present. Students, he said, must develop a habit of reading if they want structured thinking and deeper learning.

Adults, he added, need reading just as much because books steady the mind and offer a sense of companionship that no screen can replace. He warned that television and digital media often turn into compulsive distractions, and urged families to rebuild reading as a daily practice.

Silchar MLA Dipayan Chakraborty followed the same line. He described the book fair as an illuminating space and praised the minister’s address. He reminded the audience that the fair had last come to Silchar a couple of years earlier and thanked Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for investing in education reforms.

Chakraborty also asked the minister to consider introducing a short daily reading period in schools so that children encounter books beyond textbooks.

The inaugural session also carried a moment of nostalgia. Eminent writer and journalist Dr. Partha Chatterjee, now 89, said he returned to Silchar out of affection for the town. He recalled being invited in 1998 by senior journalist Atin Das for a seminar and being received then by Assam University’s Vice-Chancellor Dr. Jayanta Bhattacharjee.

Chatterjee said he has spent long stretches of his life in Silchar and continues to devote most of his hours to reading and writing. He argued that smartphones have dulled curiosity, weakened memory, and shortened attention spans, while reading acts like exercise for the mind and sharpens discipline.

North Sribhumi MLA Kamalakhya Dey Purkayastha spoke briefly and urged young people to take books seriously. He said he was proud of Dr. Pegu’s leadership and called him incomparable.

Gurucharan University Vice-Chancellor Prof. Niranjan Roy added another layer to the discussion. He said society often talks about physical and mental fitness but ignores intellectual and spiritual balance, which books help nurture. Gadgets can deliver facts quickly, he said, but they don’t develop conscience or depth.

He noted that many students seem to have drifted away from reading and said the university has introduced several incentives, including a best book reader award, to encourage them to return to books. He stressed that families and teachers must play an active role in shaping cultural habits.

Assam Prakashan Parishad secretary Pramod Kalita, delivering the welcome address, said this is the second Assam Book Fair in Silchar and that the earlier edition drew strong participation. Similar fairs are being held across the state to gauge reading patterns and understand what kind of books readers are buying.

Thirty-one stalls have been set up this year, and Kalita urged parents to bring their children so the next generation gets comfortable around books. The fair will continue till December 10.

The inauguration was attended by several dignitaries, including Dibrugarh Mayor Dr. Saikat Patra, writer and poet Dilip Kanti Laskar, Nehru College principal Dr. Shuvojit Chakraborty, and Cachar College principal Dr. Apratim Nag. The ceremony opened with a Saraswati Vandana performed by students of Saraswati Vidya Niketan, setting a warm, traditional start to the event.

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