I chanced on a news item that this week (14th – 20th Nov) is the National Book Week. During this Diwali season, we bought new clothes, new electronic goods, new home décor, and a new car perhaps. But how many of us bought books for ourselves or for our loved ones?

It always surprises me how much friends and family influence what we read. From my father and my uncles (straight out of the British era), I learnt about P.G Wodehouse, Oscar Wilde, George Barnard Shaw, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Agatha Christie, Arthur Hailey, and Alistair MacLean. From my friends, I learnt about Amar Chitra Katha, Tinkle, Three Investigators, Asterix, and Tintin. The elders in my family would never venture to read Indian authors who write in English. “Why would I read an Indian author? They are not worth my time!” my uncle would venture. But, I’ve learnt otherwise. To me, Salman Rushdie, Amitav Ghosh, Shashi Tahroor, Gita Mehta, Dr. Devdutt Pattnaik, and Kamala Markandaya are as engaging as anyone else. I am from the You Tube and TED Talks generation and I would be at fault if I did not move away from the danger of a single story. Do check out Chimamanda Adichie’s talk with the same title (The danger of a single story) on TED Talks – it is a thought-provoking talk.

Sometimes, it is books that make for long-lasting friendships. Back in the college library, I was rummaging the book racks to read something over the weekend. A classmate of mine was poking the other end of the rack. We got talking about books. And we have not stopped since!

I find today’s children so comfortable with technology. I see children of all ages and sizes playing around with iPads as though these devices were extensions of themselves. I hope that parents and elders in such families encourage their children to read – whether it is Chota Bheem or Famous Five. It is important that they discover worlds of their own and the worlds that are a wee bit alien to them too. I see the wealth of books as an important dimension of today’s child growing into a responsible, sensitive global citizen of tomorrow.

So, the next time you find yourself struggling to buy a gift, think of a book. 

Urmilla Chandran
The author is co-founder and Director, Content Development at Steta  

In ancient times, the mighty ruler Alexander the Great, marched across the dusty plains of Central Asia to conquer Persia. He was a smart military strategist, for one of the first things he did was trot straight down to the Royal Library at Persepolis (the capital), which he proceeded to burn to the ground. He left the soldiers to loot, rape and plunder, while he destroyed the heart of the civilization.

A library is so much more than a collection of books. It is knowledge, sentiment, history, power, intellectual growth, and shared wisdom. As a library grows, it builds upon itself. The oldest and most tattered book can be as useful or meaningful to someone as a new, glitzier one. Think of your own library at home. It does not matter if it is two books, or two hundred. If those books were destroyed (heaven forbid), you would definitely feel a deep sense of loss. We have sanctuaries for wildlife, but we also need sanctuaries for books.

Fortunately, I have studied in places that have decent libraries. The most recent, the National Institute of Design, has a fantastic design library and archives. Many students spend innumerable happy hours here reading (interspersed with dozing or whispered gossiping). In recent years sadly, one sees more students using Facebook on their laptops between bookshelves, instead of reading. Yet a healthy culture of borrowing books is still alive here.

Sadly, we have few public libraries in India. In fact, except for some well-known ones such as the British Council, or the Asiatic (Mumbai), it is hard to find libraries in most cities. This is the unfortunate reality of our culture. Malls keep opening, but not libraries. In many parts of the world, almost every neighborhood has a public library. A library can introduce children to the joy of reading, and teach them to treat books properly. Large corporate houses and publishers could immensely benefit society by starting libraries. Ideally, the Government should be responsible for such an initiative, but it is doubtful the Indian government could take on such tasks at the moment.

People need libraries to enrich themselves, to pass time, to encourage their children to read, to study and inform themselves, and more. Reading is a good habit no matter where you are in life. We tend to think that only institutes or places of study need libraries, but every residential neighborhood could benefit from one, however humble. A nation without the habit and culture of the library is suffering a silent loss. The library should be considered the modern, secular sanctuary.