Kolkata Books

Kolkata’s College Street is a throbbing maze of traditional book shops and stalls, but modernity is encroaching.

Filmmaker: Rani Khanna

College Street in Kolkata is the throbbing home of a maze of old book shops and stalls and this traditional place of learning and trading hosts the largest non-trading book fair in the world every year.

But encroaching globalisation, in the form of a modern and fancy book mall being built opposite, casts a shadow over this traditional and treasured place.

Is it a threat or an opportunity for the traditional book traders? While India embraces globalisation, what does it mean for ordinary people and the intellectual traditions of this city?

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This episode of Artscape can be seen from Friday, June 17, at the following times GMT: Friday: 1930; Saturday: 1430; Sunday: 0430; Monday: 0830.

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