For Das and hundreds of probashi bangalis (Bengalis living outside West Bengal), books from the land of Tagore which have been put together at a fair here are a break from the run of the mill books that are usually available in the Capital.

The Bengali book fair, which opened for the first time in the Capital yesterday, is like a `fresh breeze for us', says Das, who like several other Bengalis feels concerned that his son is just not interested in Bengali books.

Sarod maestro Amjad Ali Khan, who inaugurated the fair, lamented that popularity of books was on the wane among the young because of academic pressures.

He said educational system which was obliterating the creativity in young minds must be changed to make books more popular.

Renowned Bengali writer Sunil Gangopadhyay said regional languages like Bengali were relegated to the background with the rise of English and Hindi and stressed that rich literary aspects of vernacular languages must not be ignored.