Reader's Quotient:Transforming the DNA of Society

Authored By:Gopinath Mavinkurve

Readers? …..Where?  

In these days of dazzling electronic media dominance, it is indeed a task to get young children off the idiot box every evening and get them to engage in some physical activity.   We find school-going kids watch their favorite cartoon shows or even spend time on social networking sites like Orkut and Facebook. We all know how moving images capture young minds right from their infancy. With this backdrop, it is easy to realize how the habit of reading has been waning away over times. On the other hand, the advent of the internet enables several millions to post their thoughts on e-zines and blogs to reach out to the globalized world.  This new-found medium provides a seamless, unrestricted canvas on which one can post articles, creative writing stuff like poems and short stories, which find it difficult to make it to the print media.

The number of writers that are contributing to internet sites have seen a quantum jump lately. A strange situation, really, where more writers are chasing less readers! It is for this very reason that when one attended the first Literature Live festival held at Mumbai in December 2010, several enthusiastic writers shared their experience about how authors were not competing against each other but really competing against other forms of entertainment together! Several publishers are setting up shop in India and the new book releases hitting bookstores is also on the rise.   So what is it that makes us witness such a paradoxical situation?

The answer perhaps lies in increasing average life-spans, early age of retirement compared to the better medical facilities making 50-somethings like me feel like “50 is the new 30” or “60 is the new 40” and so on.   The generation that is not so comfortable with e-readers like Kindle or the internet is now finding time to read books? Perhaps!   Anyway, whatever the medium, are we able to spur the young children to read beyond their curriculum, some good stories with great moral values, some life experiences shared by those who have gone through daunting challenges in their lives?

What is needed to be done to boost readership of books? Although India can boast of high penetration of mobile phones, even in the remotest village, it is not so when it comes to the access of internet, which has been slower and has yet to reach several millions, who are yet to get other basic amenities too. What can be done to inculcate reading habits amongst all sections of our society?

To my mind, the beginning has got to be done in schools. Teachers ought to encourage students to read some books outside their prescribed syllabus. Suggest some good books – in any language - whenever they come across any that are suitable for their age and background. They should take time off discussing whether students have read any book lately, and how did they find them? May be educational boards should list books found to be of educational and social values as “recommended reads”.

Second, in my mind, is gifting books of such kind on their birthdays or for special achievements. I have known some youngsters become keen readers after being gifted some gems by their friends or relatives. Although there is that nagging doubt of whether the recipient would like your gift or not, it will certainly not go waste, for someone or the other would certainly read it and get hooked!

Thirdly, I have come across some story-reading sessions held by authors of the book and sponsored by book-publishers, who have taken up this task upon themselves to enhance sales figures. A good initiative, one must acknowledge, since children would get an opportunity for a mentally stimulating interaction in the bargain!

Finally, let me turn to the writers and say that we ought to write well! A well written book, a strong narrative and a story well-told is just what a reader would enjoy to read. Some books have been written with great care, wherein the authors have kept young readers in mind while writing their books. Sudha Murty, Rashmi Bansal and the Chicken Soup for the Soul series of books are some, that I found to be able to connect to young readers who have just taken to the habit. I found the same characteristics in “Go Kiss the World” by Subroto Bagchi, a corporate honcho, who rose to being an entrepreneur from his humble beginnings. These works have been written in a simple language - and they get their message across to young minds beautifully, having been written from the heart! Books which tell about the limitless possibilities for them in life are best suited for young minds.

Every writer should introspect about how readable his piece had been and how to improve on the same next time around. So, although a writer may hope to be a JK Rowling (or an Enid Blyton, for that matter) with millions of kids all over the globe drool for more, one can surely try and write like Sudha Murty or Rashmi Bansal!

We do need more readers!