There is something
both wonderful and exhilarating about leafing through the pages of a well writ
novel, or go in between the lines of a seminal work of poetry, losing oneself
into the world of ink, far away from reality as imagination takes over and the
world as we know it -- subsides.
World Book Day is being organised by the UNESCO since 1995.
Also known as World Book And Copyright Day, the significance of the day also
lies in the fact that this is also the death and possibly birth day of the
English Bard, William Shakespeare.
Taking to twitter
on this, UNESCO posted, "We must redouble efforts to promote the book in
order to fight illiteracy & poverty and to strengthen peace."
They further tweeted, "Let's highlight today the power
of books to promote open & inclusive knowledge societies."
So what is the importance of reading?
UK author of the book Melissa,
Jonathan Taylor compares reading to ‘a matter of life and death.’ He says, “As
many people have said, in some circumstances it is literally life and death: to
read a sign wrongly in the antebellum American South, or WW2 Europe might
literally result in violence or death. But it's also life and death in more
profound ways: reading structures our very consciousness - it's the way we
understand the world.”
Taylor further opines, “The texts we read and absorb are how
we understand the world outside ourselves - and they also form our internal
worlds as well.”
Canada based Indian author Gaurav Sharma, whose debut novel Gone are the Days was well received
across all sections furthers the point saying that whoever said, he/she is a
proud non-reader of books' is living in oblivion.
Speaking about the importance of writing, he says, “I think
reading is an effective way of introspecting how you percieve reality and
imagination. As an author, you get to know what other authors have done better
and it helps hone skills.”
As a reader, he opines, it not only opens up one’s mind to a
wider array of things as well, but is also a welcome relief from the monotony
of the mundane world.
Author of Pretty Vile
Girl, Rickie Khosla says that just like the body needs food to
sustain, the mind needs nutrition too.
“I think of books as the carbs and proteins and fats for your
mind,” he says, adding, “That’s why reading is important - you don’t want your
brain to starve, do you?”
As for what kind of books, Khosla wickedly adds, “All kinds
are good! The classics by Charles Dickens and George Orwell can be nutritious
soups, the pop thrillers by Sidney Sheldon and Gillian Flynn the spicy entrees,
the modern favourites by Margaret Atwood and Salman Rushdie can be the rich
main courses and the romance of Jane Austen and EL James the yummy desserts!”
Speaking about reading and books, Laaleen Sukhera, the editor
of Austenistan, a popular fiction anthology inspired by Jane Austen and
published by Bloomsbury says that there is little that can replace the languid
luxury of reading a favourite novel.
She adds, “Some titles become dear old friends; reliable,
charming, and beloved for a lifetime. I enjoy my fiction with a heavy dose of
wit in romantic settings.”
The author from Pakistan says that her favourites include EM
Forster’s A Room With A View, Elizabeth von Arnim’s The Enchanted April and
Stella Gibbons’ Cold Comfort Farm. Each book, she believes brings in something
new and different to readers. And the best part, she says is that all three also
have superb film adaptations.
Above all, Jonathan Taylor says, that reading, at its most
powerful, help us to understand the other and take us beyond ourselves to
understand people who, in tabloid journalism and politics, might be demonised.
He concludes, It is not to say that we become complacent, but that the only way
we can possibly help people, and help society,
