Rafiq Ahmad Rather
23 April is a symbolic day for world literature as onthis date in the year 1616Cervantes, Shakespeare and Inca Garcilaso de La all died. It is also the date of birth or death of other prominent authors such as Maurice Druon, Heldor K. Laxness and Vladimir. It wasa natural choice for UNESCO’s General conference held in Paris in 1995 to pay tribute to authors of some memorable books on this date, encouraging everyone in general and young people in particular to discover the pleasure of reading and gain a renewed respect for the unforgettable contributions of those who have worked towards the social and cultural progress of humanity. This day is marked in over 100 countries around the globe with the aim to encourage people to explore the pleasure of books and reading by providing them with the opportunity to have a book of their own.
Books are one of the oldest means of communication and distribution. They not only have spiritual, educational and cultural value, but have a commercial significance too. They are tangible and valuable record of our world sure we have the Internet and computers with vast amounts of information stored in them but that never means the value of book has been diminished anyways. As long as books are you can learn, imagine and sometimes escape from the world around you. For some, it is their way of expressing their imagination
For others, books are an escape. When the world gets to be too crazy and you need to escape you can pick up a book and forget about the world around you. They are an inspiration to us if we read the right ones.
However there is an increasing attraction with information technologies and the Internet and as a result reading habits of people are drastically reducing. Internet is taking most of our time leaving very little for us to read.
Web culture is having negative impact on the reading culture. Particularly young generation has become the victim of the latest technologies. They are getting less time for exploring their knowledge by reading books. Due to the availability of Internet facilities, they are forgetting the real sources of knowledge.
People are not buying as many news papers, books or magazines as they used to purchase before the introduction of the internet. Though they get it free from the Internet but could not read them with ease and depth. Kids are taught early on how to access the Internet and play games. A study shows that people are managing to read fewer books per year (from 24.4books at an average in 1991 to 16.6 books by 2005 and 15.2 books by 2016).
There is a need to create an atmosphere where we read and think. Parents can play a key role in this regard. The institutions of higher learning like universities and colleges should reduce the using hours of the browsing centers and a student should not be allowed more than one hour to spend on browsing the Internet. It is also obligatory for the government and the Internet service providers not to encourage the mushroom growth of the Internet cafes and to put unwanted information under scanner. Parents should not equip their kids with mobile phones and computers in their early childhood.Rather they should encourage them to bring books andfinance them for the same. The mere holding of book exhibitions will not keep the importance of the World Book Day alive rather exploring the value of reading books and the negative impact of the Internet on reading habits will do the desired. This is the message of the world Book Day we are celebrating today.
The author is Librarian GDC Kishtwar
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