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<%-- Page Title--%> Reflections <%-- End Page Title--%>

<%-- Volume Number --%> Vol 1 Num 126 <%-- End Volume Number --%>

October 10, 2003

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Guarding the Reading Habit

Rezwan Haque

W. Somerset Maugham once declared "I would sooner read a timetable or a catalogue than nothing at all." I agree with him completely. Reading timetables and catalogues not only helps to plod through long hours in waiting rooms, but also provides us with bits of information which may prove to be handy later on. Often I have enlightened friends with knowledge gained from staring at posters and some of them have indeed been grateful to me for remembering tidbits. Reading posters, however, is not a preoccupation that is unique to me. After all, I am sure all of you spend many minutes, every day, perusing the plethora billboards in Dhaka while stuck in monstrous traffic jams. The traffic situation has of course deteriorated over the past few years and the number of resourceful entrepreneurs has augmented. This has naturally been accompanied by a surge in the reading habit (reading of posters and billboards that is), which, paradoxically, masks the sad reality that nowadays fewer and fewer people turn to books as a source of recreation.

Curling up with a good book in a quiet corner can be an immensely enjoyable experience, not only because it provides hours of reading pleasure, but also because it is a wonderful opportunity to grab a much-needed break from our hectic daily schedules. Reading is thus a form of escapism, enabling one to drift off into a surreal world and toy with one's imagination. It can act as a palliative. It can soothe. It can divert. I have invariably found books to be a remarkable salve when I am plagued by the frustrations of life, and will always remain an ardent advocate of the reading habit.

So why is reading experiencing a dip in popularity? The emergence of new modes of entertainment in recent years is surely one of the reasons. It is true that widespread access to the Internet, the increase in the options offered by cable television, and the rampant piracy of CDs (making them cheap at half the price), has led to the creation of viable alternatives as far as indoor entertainment is concerned. Another possible explanation is that people have become busier over the years (or have pretended to become so), meaning that they are less and less willing to engage themeselves in to the admittedly time-consuming activity of reading. To rush through the newspaper headlines is all they can afford. Or maybe it is just that our work life involves such a lot of reading that books are the last things we look for when we
come home.

All that is fine as far as conscientious, diligent and hard-working adults go. But what about kids? It would be stretching the imagination to accept that they too are leading frantic, caffeine-driven lives these days. Why don't children - and adolescents read? (Some do of course, but they are only exceptions which prove the rule). Again the answer lies in the development of modern forms of entertainment (i.e. PC games and the like). I believe that it is important for children to read, and read widely, to develop their imagination and maturity. Reading supplies food for thought; food that, if digested, will furnish young and inquisitive minds with an arsenal to combat the unpredictable future. While it is true that such food can be elicited from other sources, it is also unlikely that kids will be exposed to them. For students it is often advisable to read books other than prescribed texts so that they have a more comprehensive knowledge regarding their subject matter. It helps. I know it helps.

On a more general level, reading makes you more informed and intelligent. Even if you don't become more intelligent, you will have had a pleasurable experience after reading a good book; so there is nothing to lose. After all, it is a truth almost universally acknowledged that no one ever got dumber by reading…

Some encouraging signs exist, which lead optimists to believe that the reading habit is not a bygone phenomenon to be examined by historians. It is always nice to see the mobile libraries of the Biswa Shahithyo Kendro plying the streets of Dhaka, for instance. A few bookshops (e.g. Etcetera, Omni Books) have sprung up, catering to those with a penchant for English books in particular. (You can order books from amazon.com through Omni Books, if you would like to obtain publications not available in the country). And of course last summer there was a rush to get copies of Brick Lane and Living History -as well as The Order of the Phoenix for younger readers.

Hopefully this popularity is not transient and is transformed into a long-lived demand for books to provide recreation.

 

   
 
         

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