“Today was the last day of school for Class X. We wanted to party. So we came here to buy some books,” says 14-year-old Shwetan Panga, who was at the World Book Fair at Bharat Mandapam, still in his school uniform. His favourite authors are J K Rowling and Robert Frost — he enjoys the rush that fantasy gives him; bravery is the aspiration. Running his fingers over the strap of his bag back and forth, and eyes fixed on the ground, he says he has read the Harry Potter series cover to cover.
