“Read,
every day, something no one else is reading. Think, every day, something
no one else is thinking. Do, every day, something no one else would be
silly enough to do. It is bad for the mind to be always part of
unanimity.”
Christopher Morley (1890 - 1957)
acquire the habit of reading is to construct for yourself a
refuge from almost all the miseries of life, said W Somerset Maugham. A
good book is considered panacea for mental agony one suffers during
day-to-day life.
With the technological advancements in the satellite era, reading habit is said to have taken a beating, or it seems. But that is not the case as reading had never been a habit of common people. What seems to have changed over the years is the taste of youngsters who are more inclined to light readings with the plot they identify themselves with than the one loaded with philosophical anecdotes. Again, it depends on their taste.
Kids and young adults seem to be getting inclined to books once again in search of best friends. While a whole generation considers itself to be of 'Harry Potter' (HP) generation and would feel offended if you did not know who 'The Dark Lord' is (for those who actually don't know, he's the baddie in HP series and Harry's biggest adversary), popularity-wise it has a close contest with 'The Twilight Saga', as girls swoon over vampires (Edward Cullen) and werewolves (Jacob Black).
"Books transcend me to a different world. I feel I'm a character in the story as the plot unveils. I don't feel merely a distant observer," said Naina, a student of Notre Dame Academy (NDA) who claims to be a voracious reader.
Anshika of class XI of the same school, says, "I like to read books. It is fairly regular but not frequent." Her friend Esha adds, "I'm more into reading novels."
Sr Neha, principal, junior section, NDA, says, "As I have observed as a whole, reading habit is picking up. We have library classes every week for all students. Individual as well as group reading is promoted."
Raveena, a class VII student says, "My favourite are horror novels as I find them very interesting."
Atmanand Das, owner of Books en Amee on Boring Road says, "A few years back, there was decline in the number of young readers but now the trend in on the rise again. Personality development books are more popular among them." His shop also has a book club which has 1,640 members. "About 75% of the club members are school and college students. Most of them visit regularly, if not often. Parents usually encourage their wards to read beyond textbooks," Das said.
Srishti, a class XI student says, "I read eBooks. Most of the publications are easily available on the internet and can be downloaded free. Though it is not the same as holding the paperback but still getting the information is better than not reading at all."
With the kind of deluge of young Indian writers in the publishing industry, whose works are generally referred to as '100 Rupees literature' (as most of them are available at this price), many teenagers are drawn towards fiction reading.
Aditya, a class 12 pass-out, says, "These novels make for easy reading as they are written in the lingo commonly used. We can read it without putting much pressure on our grey matter."
Br Felix, principal, senior section, Loyola High School, said, "There has been an improvement in the reading habit of children. We have about 21,000 books in our library and we encourage students to read newspapers, articles, course books as well as novels."
When asked what type of books you like to read, Nilesh and Thakur Abish, class VII students of St Michael's High School, replied they liked reading fiction. "Charles Dickens is my favourite. I also read Chetan Bhagat," said Nilesh.
Poonam and Rikoo, class XI students from the same school, also like Dickens. Poonam said, "His style of writing and the way he describes the scene are very good." Rikoo adds, "Despite a lot of syllabus, we find time to read books."
Aditya, a class IX student of St Michael's High School, said, "I don't know much about classics or great authors. But I like to read whatever I can lay my hands on."
Jose, the librarian at Don Bosco Academy, said, "With the coming of TV and internet, the reading habit among children has gone downhill. We have about 6,500 books, but students have so much pressure to score high marks and concentrate on their career that they only read textbooks."
Rakesh, a class X student said, "It's not that I don't like to read. But school and tuition homework take so much time that I am left too exhausted to do anything more." He added, "I try to compensate during summer vacations."
It is true : “Resolve to edge in a little reading every day, if it is but a single sentence. If you gain fifteen minutes a day, it will make itself felt at the end of the year.”
Horace Mann (1796 - 1859)
With the technological advancements in the satellite era, reading habit is said to have taken a beating, or it seems. But that is not the case as reading had never been a habit of common people. What seems to have changed over the years is the taste of youngsters who are more inclined to light readings with the plot they identify themselves with than the one loaded with philosophical anecdotes. Again, it depends on their taste.
Kids and young adults seem to be getting inclined to books once again in search of best friends. While a whole generation considers itself to be of 'Harry Potter' (HP) generation and would feel offended if you did not know who 'The Dark Lord' is (for those who actually don't know, he's the baddie in HP series and Harry's biggest adversary), popularity-wise it has a close contest with 'The Twilight Saga', as girls swoon over vampires (Edward Cullen) and werewolves (Jacob Black).
"Books transcend me to a different world. I feel I'm a character in the story as the plot unveils. I don't feel merely a distant observer," said Naina, a student of Notre Dame Academy (NDA) who claims to be a voracious reader.
Anshika of class XI of the same school, says, "I like to read books. It is fairly regular but not frequent." Her friend Esha adds, "I'm more into reading novels."
Sr Neha, principal, junior section, NDA, says, "As I have observed as a whole, reading habit is picking up. We have library classes every week for all students. Individual as well as group reading is promoted."
Raveena, a class VII student says, "My favourite are horror novels as I find them very interesting."
Atmanand Das, owner of Books en Amee on Boring Road says, "A few years back, there was decline in the number of young readers but now the trend in on the rise again. Personality development books are more popular among them." His shop also has a book club which has 1,640 members. "About 75% of the club members are school and college students. Most of them visit regularly, if not often. Parents usually encourage their wards to read beyond textbooks," Das said.
Srishti, a class XI student says, "I read eBooks. Most of the publications are easily available on the internet and can be downloaded free. Though it is not the same as holding the paperback but still getting the information is better than not reading at all."
With the kind of deluge of young Indian writers in the publishing industry, whose works are generally referred to as '100 Rupees literature' (as most of them are available at this price), many teenagers are drawn towards fiction reading.
Aditya, a class 12 pass-out, says, "These novels make for easy reading as they are written in the lingo commonly used. We can read it without putting much pressure on our grey matter."
Br Felix, principal, senior section, Loyola High School, said, "There has been an improvement in the reading habit of children. We have about 21,000 books in our library and we encourage students to read newspapers, articles, course books as well as novels."
When asked what type of books you like to read, Nilesh and Thakur Abish, class VII students of St Michael's High School, replied they liked reading fiction. "Charles Dickens is my favourite. I also read Chetan Bhagat," said Nilesh.
Poonam and Rikoo, class XI students from the same school, also like Dickens. Poonam said, "His style of writing and the way he describes the scene are very good." Rikoo adds, "Despite a lot of syllabus, we find time to read books."
Aditya, a class IX student of St Michael's High School, said, "I don't know much about classics or great authors. But I like to read whatever I can lay my hands on."
Jose, the librarian at Don Bosco Academy, said, "With the coming of TV and internet, the reading habit among children has gone downhill. We have about 6,500 books, but students have so much pressure to score high marks and concentrate on their career that they only read textbooks."
Rakesh, a class X student said, "It's not that I don't like to read. But school and tuition homework take so much time that I am left too exhausted to do anything more." He added, "I try to compensate during summer vacations."
It is true : “Resolve to edge in a little reading every day, if it is but a single sentence. If you gain fifteen minutes a day, it will make itself felt at the end of the year.”
Horace Mann (1796 - 1859)
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