Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee today said while Costa Rica, the theme country of the 41st International Kolkata Book fair, is an eco-friendly nation, India is a book-friendly country.
“You are an eco-friendly nation while we are a book-friendly country. This makes the two of us so connected by heart,” Banerjee told Costa Rican Author Roxana Pinto Lopez during the inauguration of the world’s largest book fair in terms of footfall here.
Conferring the CESC Sahitya Samman on veteran poet and winner of 1974 Sahitya Akademi Award Nirendranath Chakraborty, the Chief Minister touched on the book fair’s glorious history, since its origin in 1976, and called upon everyone to help organise this edition of the book fair in a peaceful manner.
Costa Rican writer Roxana, who inaugurated the fair by hitting the ceremonial hammer 41 times, said the fair gave wonderful ways of interaction between the two countries.
She said the Costa Rican pavilion at the fair ground will present an overview of the country’s culture to the Indian audience and showcase her latest work that compares human interaction in a small city and a big city.