(Minghui.org) Pune, approximately 150 kms from Mumbai, is the second largest city in the state of Maharashtra and is an important city in terms of its economic and industrial growth and being a significant IT hub. Pune, known to be the education and cultural capital of Maharashtra, was proud to host the annual Book Fair from April 28 - May 1, 2022.

Falun Dafa practitioners answer questions from a visitor at the Pune Book Fair.

Falun Dafa practitioners were invited to participate in the book fair this year, where they had a booth with Falun Dafa materials. The weekend drew crowds of people, some visiting from Mumbai. The soothing exercise music and practitioners demonstrating the exercises drew many people to stop by and find out more about this exercise and meditation practice. Some people tried a couple of the exercises and purchased Falun Dafa books available in English and Hindi, and a number of people expressed their keenness to learn the practice soon. Many said they looked forward to Dafa books being available in the local language, Marathi.

A practitioner discusses the contents of the book Falun Gong.

A practitioner hands out informational flyers and talks about Falun Dafa to book fair visitors.

Demonstrating the sitting meditation

Demonstrating the standing meditation

Thousands of informational flyers were distributed and practitioners answered a lot of questions, often showing excerpts from the books.

A person who has authored a book had a booth opposite the Falun Dafa booth. He was fascinated by practitioners demonstrating the exercises and said he felt a special kind of energy from them. He would often come to watch the exercises and ask questions. On the last day of the book fair he said he considered himself fortunate to have come into contact with practitioners and bought the book Zhuan Falun. He left his contact details and said he would get in touch with practitioners to learn the exercises.

An executive from All India Radio, the government radio broadcasting company, was so impressed with the practice and meditation that he said he would like to interview practitioners and do a radio program about Falun Dafa.

Practitioners also provided all those visiting the booth with details about the ongoing online webinars in multiple Indian languages including Hindi, Marathi, Kannada and Bengali, as well as English, and told people how to register to learn Falun Dafa at convenient time slots.

After the fair, practitioners said they would like to draft a plan next year to do more publicity and reach out to more people.