IS THE APPETITE FOR READING SLOWLY DYING?
“As
A writer, the main skill you need is curiosity.
As
a reader, the main tool you need is open-mindedness.”
Gloria
D. Gonsalves
Some
days ago, my wife and I were invited to attend a dinner hosted by a dear
family. We were, in all, eight families around the dining tables. The day
happened to be ‘The International Women’s Day’, though the main celebration was
a couple’s 47th wedding anniversary.
My wife and I
had picked eight books to gift each woman who was present there…
“What a
thoughtful gift,” we heard some women reacting happily. Others said, “Really
appreciate”, or “Thank you so much.”
Will those books
be read? Do people ‘still’ read these days? Leave alone other people… do I ‘still’
read books – and, for that matter, even magazines and newspapers?
That night, one
of the books was gifted to my own wife. It was Shobhaa De’s latest release - ‘Insatiable
– My hunger for Life’. In fact, my wife,
on listening to Shobhaa on a podcast, had nudged me to gift her that book on
the ‘Women’s Day’. I ended up gifting to other women as well! So, yesterday, while
checking with my wife, as to whether she was reading the book or not, she said,
“Yes, I am.” Then, she added this truth: “But, we have become so used to
reading on social media, that it has killed our appetite for reading from the
books, magazines and newspapers.”
That’s when I
realized, why the appetite was dying inside me as well…
Presently, we receive
on every Sunday – ‘Sunday Mid-day’ and ‘The Week’. No daily newspapers, anymore.
The ‘Sunday Mid-day’ and ‘The Week’, very often, lie there untouched… “What a
waste?”
But, who says
it? And, to whom? Whose call is it anyway – to get them, read them, or just
ignore them?
The incessant reading
the stuff on social media - WhatsApp, Insta, FB etc. - has done a lot of damage
to our appetite for good-ole reading. I am sure, my wife and I are not the only
casualties of this collateral damage…
Thank God, my hunger for writing has still remained insatiable… The curious child in me refuses to grow, you see. But, to keep my hunger for reading similarly insatiable – yes, Gloria D. Gonsalves is right - the main tool I seem to need is open-mindedness.
GERALD D’CUNHA
Pic's. pixabay:
Video: NOWNESS
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