Reading is dreaming with open eyes.
Reading a good book is equal to practicing meditation with open eyes. It opens the many invisible barriers of the mind and the reader can travel miles and miles away to a seemingly different world from his reality. But the reality is that Indian people do not read much except for their school course books. In this article, we are going to find out the possible reasons for it and compare the reading culture of India to the west.
Indian Reading Culture vs Western Reading Culture
The reading culture in India is visibly different from the west. The act of reading as a productive habit wasn't recognized in the mainland of India until the coming of the Britishers and their colonial rule. Though there are exceptions in certain geographical locations for example in West Bengal where the art of reading and writing was prevalent since a long time.
The introduction of a western lifestyle into the Indian mainland spread the essence and habit of reading books in leisure time. But only the aristocracy could enjoy such a task as the majority were the working class. The working class of people who worked in the agricultural fields and cottage industries comprised the majority of the population of India. For them, sitting idle with a book in a hand won't earn them their bread.
Is our Education System the real culprit?
The number of literate and educated were few as well and when the realisation struck the Indian people about the importance of education, they went on to collect degrees and enrolled into skill-enhancing courses. Indians treated the act of reading, writing, learning, etc. as a collective process with an aim to get good grades in their respective fields of study.
A whole education system developed in the mainland where to read is only to learn but not to find pleasure in. The act of reading had no association with pleasure. The task was a need but not a want. The course books have informative content but they had no element of grasping the mind into an interesting way. The cultural and lifestyle habits of the Indian people are also to blame for this resistance towards reading books apart from their course books. Reading anything else apart from informative text have been considered non-productive. Moreover, the cost of books are also a matter of concern. The course books are already costly enough and over that, parents and individuals do not feel like to invest in any other unnecessary text.
Reading Culture in Modern India
The reading culture did develop as a form of hobby and interest among the people but during the second decade of the 21st century the popularity or demand for physical books got waylaid by the present generation of people, who do not prefer to carry piles of books with them. With the coming of internet and technology in general, people started to rely on their screens more. Nowadays, devices like kindle have replaced the space of a whole library.
Apart from the technical glitch, the reading culture in India is different in different locations within the country. But what unites them all is the shared value for reading newspapers. Reading newspapers are a daily habit of every Indian. A newspaper serves the needs and interests of the many diverse classes and communities in India. Whether a local daily or a national one, newspapers are very popular among the nation because newspapers cost a minute sum of money and is affordable by almost all classes of people.
Fiction books or the new age materials popular among the mass has created a new wave of reading. However, this reading is only subjective towards the urban middle and upper classes. The act of reading is not emphasized but the impression of being someone who reads and collects many books have been rising. Reading course books is not pleasant but a good book with good content or story can make people feel good about reading. The habit of reading non-course books is seemingly a concentrated subject in India as the mainstream Indians only pay attention to movie-like content by the famous writers. But recently, unconventional and remote topics and subjects have received great appraisal as well.
Conclusion
Better late than never, the mainstream Indian people have realised the therapeutic and essential benefit of reading books. Reading makes a person grow and nurture without actually doing any physical effort. It makes one see the world differently and learn new things. However, the act of reading is not something that is to be forced. Like all other activities of gaining bliss and contentment, reading too shall be a flow of action with eagerness. The habit of reading should be emphasized from childhood. Reading out stories from story books rather than simply orally transmitting would create a sense of attachment towards the books.
The children would feel a sense of likelihood and fantasy only by seeing the books that their parents read them out from. Reading books apart from course texts is very much essential. There is a whole world out there that needs an aware mind to know of. There is no limitation in reading and books are the sole passport to travel the world. One can know and live in the shoes of the characters in the books who see the world differently and sometimes similarly as the reader. To read books is to fill one's mind with infinite knowledge and understanding of the world.
Hi, I am Divyyanaa Hazarika. I am pursuing my B. A. (Hons) in English from Guwahati University. My dream is to join the Civil Services and I'm extremely ardent towards it. I like to write and explore my abilities in the creative writing genre and current affairs. I spend my free time by reading books, painting, watching movies and gardening.
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