Visitors browse through pages at the fair of Urdu books. Picture by Bishwarup Dutta

Looking for a copy of the Quran in Bengali? Want to read Rabindranath Tagore’s works in Urdu? Planning to buy a Hadith Challenge Game for your children?

If yes, head for Mohammad Ali Park, on Chittaranjan Avenue, where the first Urdu book fair in the city is being held.

The National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language, an autonomous body under the Union ministry of human resources development, has organised the fair, which has brought together leading publishers under one roof. The event was inaugurated on Sunday.

“The idea is to create a market for Urdu books. We want publishers from across the country to interact with each other and assess the demand of readers. Such book fairs also inform the readers about the types of books available in Urdu,” said Dr Kalimullah, who is coordinating the event for the council.

There are more than 50 stalls at the fair, with books on science and technology, literature, theology, alternate medicine and thesauruses.

“We have attached a lot of importance to books on science and technology. We want the Urdu-speaking youths to put these volumes to good use,” said Nishat Alam of the West Bengal Urdu Academy.

The Urdu book fair was earlier organised in Delhi, Srinagar, Mumbai. Hyderabad and Lucknow. But the response in Calcutta has been the most encouraging. “In terms of the first-day sales, Calcutta is ahead of the other cities where the fair has been held,” said Dr Kalimullah.

A number of cultural programmes, involving children of a number of city schools, have been organised on the sidelines of the book fair. These programmes include one-act plays, debates and quiz sessions.

“We publish books for children. In terms of quality, the books we bring out are the best. We also publish books that present the teachings of Islam in a global context,” said a representative of Goodword Books Private Limited, which has set up a stall in the fair.

The Urdu book fair is on till December 24.