When Lord Macaulay came to India in 1835, he had remarked that a single almirah of a Western library was equal to our entire library. That may have been a little patronising, but it was correct. But then that was a long time ago. We were illiterate then (at least the majority of the populace were !). Look at us now ! I say, we have produced a Nobel Prize winner, a Booker Prize winner and what can I say about Salman Rushdie and Vikram Seth. Sure we Indians write, and we write good. But do we read ? Unfortunately, that is one of the dying habits.I can no more offer illiteracy as an excuse for our lack of reading. I am sure that since we are rubbing shoulders with the rest of the world in most fields, we must have progressed to reading the alphabets clearly. So what is the cause for the disinterest in reading ? Maybe we are just plain lazy and lack the patience.I have seen many people borrow books from the library, keep it for a month above the stipulated period and return it unread. I have also had many people asking me to recommend a good book and when I did so, the usual question is ``How fat is it?'' That may sound crude but that's the way it's usually put. Most of the times the discussion that started with books usually ended with ``Let's go for a movie.''It would be unfair to say that one entire society is lazy and lacks the patience to read books. There are a lot of genuine persons who want to read but do not find the time or do not have the facilities at their disposal. For people who work from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., the last thing on their minds when they come home from work is John Grisham's latest novel. And there are those who have the time and the patience to read but don't often get the facilities, because we have to admit that we aren't really over-stocked with books and good libraries aren't very easy to find.So if we want to inculcate the reading habit in our society, we have to take various measures. We have to make our fellow-being aware that reading isn't only for nerds. Reading books, whether for knowledge or leisure is very relaxing. Hence, this habit should be encouraged at an early age by teachers and parents.Secondly, more libraries should be set up throughout the city and membership should be made easy without too many formalities. Book fairs should be held more often to bring awareness among the people and to encourage them to read. To make them realize that reading is lot of fun. As Alfred Hitchcock had once remarked: ``One good book is better than ten good films.'' If you don't believe him, then just pick a good look and read it. You'll find out for yourself.The writer is a B.A. II student of DAV College
