NELit review

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OCTOBER 07, 2012

SEVEN SISTERS

Building a reading culture

Reading maketh a full man; conference a ready man; and writing an exact man, says British essayist Francis Bacon. Its that time of year in this region when the smell of books wafts out of the shelves, reminding us again of the need of a reality check on why we read or do not read books and where the printed word stands in an increasingly digital world. Siba K Gogoi puts two questions to people from various fields of work: what is the future of the book in this high-tech world? How can we build a reading culture? Here are the responses:

Dr Nagen Saikia
Litterateur and former president, Asam Sahitya Sabha

Jahnavi Barua
Author

HE electronic media has made an unprecedented impact on human life, mainly because of the numerous ways in which it provides information and audio-visual entertainment. Students are easily attracted to the electronic media, and naturally so. However, I dont think the electronic media will take the place of the book. Information does not mean knowledge. I personally feel that there is no substitute for the book, the only medium which allows broad interpretation and analysis of a subject, thereby helping us to be properly acquainted with it. Our educational institutions should carry out some compulsory activities to promote a culture of reading among the students. Students should be made to learn about the subjects that are indirectly connected with their regular lessons. Various competitions involving students could also encourage reading habits. Both the print and electronic media should spread information on publication of new books. Book clubs can also play a significant part in making people, particularly youngsters, aware of the need of reading books.

BELIEVE, books still have a future in this new world, despite the shift towards technology and electronic devices that people, especially children, are so engaged with. There is a comfort in the holding of a book and in imagining the story in our minds that no other device can supplant. A book stimulates the human mind in quite a different way from a film, or a game played on an electronic plaything; it provokes the mind to visualise what it cannot see, and the images and thoughts that are thus evoked stay in the mind for much longer. This private interaction that the reader shares with a written text cannot be replaced easily. There is already a robust reading culture in the Northeast. Children, particularly, of this region are better read, in many instances, than their counterparts in the metropolises. Still, many measures can be undertaken to strengthen this reading habit. The first is to establish a strong library network so that books are accessible to all. Secondly, a strong focus in schools on reading will ensure that the child when he or she grows into an adult will retain this gift. To this end, maybe authors could be invited to speak in schools and interact with children. Book clubs, both for adults and children, are another effective way to inculcate the reading habit.

Stephen Styris

Temsula Ao,
Author

Subhra Sankar Roy Choudhury

Partner, Papyrus, Guwahati

THINK we in the Northeast have not yet reached the level of technology the countries in the West have. I belong to the old world of thinking and cannot imagine the very impersonal manner of reading a poem or a story on the Net or whatever. Some of the intimacy that one develops with a good book is something a machine cannot provide. To a dedicated reader, a book is a faithful companion and which you can enjoy at your own pace and convenience. I of course cannot speak for others, but as far as I am concerned, books are here to stay! With so much gadgetry around to distract youngsters, it is indeed a difficult proposition to 'make' them read books. When we were growing up, books were our saviours from boredom, loneliness and ignorance. But today, there are more attractive devices to provide a different kind of release from these. The reading habit must be inculcated from a very young age in a manner where children consider books as sources of fun learning. But then I am no expert and can, at best, hazard some inane suggestions like these!

AHRENHEIT 451 is the temperature at which paper burns and we have named our imprint as that. For me, books are like a phoenix; despite numerous threats, they rise from the ashes. The onslaught to displace the book from its hand-held position is on, but it appears readers are not very keen on chucking the romance of sniffing and flipping through a book. The sheer joy of multitasking (with one hand holding the book and the other turning the pages, eyes deciphering the logocentric signs, which we call words, and finally imbibing the signified), propels the reader to saunter through dark alleys, dusty wooden shelves and climb the attic where maybe a mad woman awaits them. Though I am not a foreseer, I always believe that if the technology has to persist, it should be with a human face. Perhaps it is only a book which can give us the much sought-after solace, for reading aloud a poem takes us through the all the places the imagery in the poem constructs, besides the joy it gives. Inculcating the reading habit is a difficult proposition as its enemies are stronger: the cartoon-beaming channel or the scantily lit, and the pounding dance floor of an anchored boat. Children may like it if the parents diligently try taking them to the book fairs, initially buying them comics (read graphic novel), then graduating to abridged classics and later maybe more critical books.

BELIEVE that the future of books in this hi-tech world is not in jeopardy. Let us take the example of India with her teeming millions. If by high-tech world you mean Google books, etc., except a certain section of the younger generation living in cities and flourishing towns, how many of us living in the villages and remote areas in this country know how to use a computer or surf the Internet? Apart Pahi Saikia from some select educaWriter and researcher tional institutions, how many people have access to high-quality Internet networks to download books? ThereforeI reiterate that the high-tech world has a long way to go before books become insignificant or totally disappear from this world. Inculcating the culture of reading books should begin at home. Schools and colleges need to have forced reading/library hours where growing kids can develop their habit of reading books which they enjoy reading. Guardians or teachers need to make children read the kind of books they think is right for a child. This also means that some amount of responsibility lies with the state and every member of the civil society to pressurise the school authorities to keep a certain amount of money to purchase books. Books can even be donated to such institutions, especially those in villages that are in need of books but cannot afford them for want of funds. There is also a need for establishing community reading clubs and public libraries in the Northeast.

DONT see any major threat to the book, and I would sound hypothetical if I say there is one. The printed word has survived many a challenge over the centuries, enriching the human mind and serving as a beacon for civilisations. Literature plays a key role in the development of linguistic skills of man so vital to his psychological, intellectual and profession growth. As far as the book is concerned, technology is nothPrajna Ananda Rao ing new, for the world of letters too welcomes change Book editor like everything does. The ebook is just a phase in the life of the book or part of the process in which its format has evolved from the handwritten to the printed and the digital. I do feel fiction has lost a considerable chunk of its admirers; I often see youngsters throng bookstores for titles on psychological and professional development. This does not sound the death knell for the book. Charles Dickens, for example, continues to charm readers cutting across geographical, cultural and linguistic boundaries. The habit of reading should start at home, the first school for the child, where the parents are the teachers. Book clubs, libraries in schools and colleges, and community reading centres should be established in different parts of the region. The publishers should also focus on bringing out quality books. Above all, building a culture of reading is the collective responsibility of society.

The desire to devour

I
F you go for a morning or evening walk in the neighbourhood where I live, keeping your mind on its surroundings, you will get to see different species of birds there. Our area has a wetland, hillock, deep field and dry cropland with a rivulet flowing through it, and perhaps that is why it has become a kind of heterogeneous habitat for birds such as kingfisher, egret, shrike, sterling, heron and wagtail. I come from a suburb of Guwahati, and if you visit this place, I am sure you whether you are a bird watcher or not will be captivated by its winged residents. Prancing around, preening themselves and wearing elegant feathers, these birds look as if they are young women, dressed in their finery, thronging the venue of a beauty pageant. We can only enjoy their beauty or fly with the wings of imagination taking in the magnificent sight they present. I feel the world of books can be compared to this motley group of birds or a beautiful woman. Im not referring to the women who participate in beauty contests; I dislike their exhibitionism. What I mean to say, for example, is a bevy of young girls dressed in traditional attire, not in lavish clothes, on the day of worship of the Goddess of Learning (Saraswati Puja). The beauty we find in them has variety. And some of them are serene, some are disruptive; some are cool, some are hot. The variety that we see in the way they conduct themselves, has mystic charm, comparable only to that of birds. This is a rarity among the women entering a pageant. The book too is about the unfathomable mystery of life. The world itself is a mystery, and we are not sure how much we know about it! Nor are we aware of the limits of our ignorance. Every good book reminds us of our lack of knowledge and opens the door to understanding of the mystery of the world, thereby inspiring us to get ahead in life. The journey of man since the day he learnt to be on all fours has been the one he goes on to know himself journey into self. To know oneself is to know about ones soul. The Chandogya Upanishad, written in about 700 BC, says the soul of one who dies trying to acquire self-knowledge journeys across the entire world after

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DIGANTA OZA
ones death. This is how acquisition of knowledge was encouraged then. According to this mystical text, even a sacrifice offered by an untouchable wise man was accepted by the god of fire. It also says as knowledge of the soul is the greatest knowledge, it should be limited to a particular group of people. The arrival of the printed book removed these restrictions a long time back. Today the printed book itself is under threat from its electronic version, or the e-book. Electronic books can never be dog-eared; the silver fish cannot attack them. You dont need any almirah for e-books, for these can be stored on the computer in thousands. One can carry 400 and 500 such books on a 4 GB data traveller. Moreover, many devices for reading e-books have been made available in the market, the latest addition being Kindle. Thanks to amazon.com, marketing of the fifth-generation Kindle has recently been started in India. Sometimes we hear people talk about the death of the book. These days people are so dependent on news. The media boom has raised fears that people would not feel the need of reading books any more. If that is the case, then why this evolution from hand-written books to the invention of the printing press and the e-book? The reason is: mans thirst for thought, hunger for knowledge, and desire to discover himself. The book can satisfy mans eternal craving to know himself and the world, because the printed word is the finest result of the evolution of human consciousness or the treasure trove of experience. Art is but the highest level of human consciousness dances, music, stories or novels and it lies deeply layered in the book. One who seeks to understand what lies beyond that layer can experience a pure delight. Coexisting with books is like being with a desirable woman. The joy of leafing through a book can also be com-

iNKPOT
HEMCHANDRA DUTTA
HY should we read books? It is a nagging question indeed, especially at a time when the Internet and social media seem to have taken precedence over the reading habit of man. I am induced to ask myself why I read books when I get to know about almost anything at the click of a mouse. Despite all the innovations in science and technology, books have their own merits and pride of place in society. Human civilisation has reached its current heights largely because of the knowledge and wisdom stored in pages of books. I read books to be part of that great legacy of man and to revel in the glory of human life. The choice of books may, however, vary from person to person. Once one cultivates the reading habit, ones search for books indubitably leads one to bookshops, libraries and book fairs. Book fairs in Guwahati have become a source of enough interest and joy for me. As always, I search for books of pan-cultural interest at these fairs. Unfortunately, my experience is not always a happy one. The bookshops, for the most part, fail to make available the books I eagerly want to lay my hands on or read. And I do not know why. Somehow the booksellers or publishers that take part at Guwahati book fairs have made a habit of providing the same books that they had brought to the venue of the same event in the past. Secondly, why should I go to a book fair to browse through or buy books that I can easily get access to at Western Book Depot, Modern Book Stall and many other prominent shops at Panbazar in the city, and that too at the same prices? I think the bookshop owners should take every possible measure to introduce the readers to the best books in every discipline and try to create an environment conducive to promotion of the reading habit. Money matters in a consumerist world. Book fairs should be organised with the aim of providing the best books at reasonably best prices. The book fairs held in Guwahati in recent years have not taken this issue seriously. Why should I purchase a book at a higher price at a book fair if I can buy it at a cheaper rate from www.flipkart.com, w w w . h o m e s h o p 1 8 . c o m , www.bookadda.com and many other online agencies? Yet, I go to book fairs in the hope of pur-

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Bitopan Borborah

pared to the thrill of one kissing ones beloved the first time. As I devour almost every book I get, I can only feel this pleasure; I cannot describe it in words. Of course I try to share with others my opinion of a book after reading it the reason why Im also a writer, an ordinary one. Advances in technology have brought about changes in both the format and the quality of the book. The other day, when I was searching for e-books on the Internet, I saw how philosophy has also been republished in the form of graphic novel in America. Tough that has not happened in our region, the availability of printing technology has facilitated the publication of numerous books in dazzling bindings. Publishing a book is a fundamental right,

though, eye-catching book covers and sensational titles might mislead readers. Most of these books are written either with professional goals or for self-promotion. So I try to be careful when I pick beautiful books. A beautiful woman as life partner may not make living a happy experience. Shakespeare says: Whats in a name. Still, we can enjoy watching these books, just like the birds I mentioned at the start of this piece. At least, such a book can give us an idea of the artistic sense of its writer. T
Translated from Assamese by Siba K Gogoi, Assistant Editor, Seven Sisters Post Diganta Oza is a writer as well as Executive Editor, Satsari, an Assamese literary magazine

SOMEHOW booksellers or publishers participating in Guwahati book fairs have made a habit of providing the same books they had sold in the previous editions of the event. Why should one go to the fair to buy books that are easily available in the city?
chasing the books I have been searching for months. Such fairs also create the muchneeded environment for literary addas, discussions and seminars. Various programmes are organised there to promote the creative prowess of children. A book fair gives children a rare opportunity to get into the world of books, an occasion that could inspire them to develop reading and writing habits. Moreover, the book fairs in Guwahati serve as platforms for interactions between friends, readers and writers; ideas, experiences and feelings can be shared over tea and coffee at the venue of a book fair, the place where most of us look forward to being for months. T