Chennai: With better availability of books, increase in different kinds of writing and saturation with the idiot box, people are increasingly opting to read, say book association members. At an event here at Anna Nagar Tower Park on Tuesday, a group of students from two city colleges pledged to read books with members of the Book Sellers and Publishers Association of South India (Bapasi), Chennai Literary Association (CLA), and Chennai Book Club.
The event comes as a curtain raiser to the Chennai Book Fair, which is all set to begin on Friday. Organisers say that over the past four years they have observed an increase in the number of people visiting the book fair Meenakshi Somasundaram, president of the Booksellers’ and Publishers’ Association of South India, says, “Year before last we received a crowd of 5 lakh people at the Chennai Book Fair, and the following year, the number increased to 7 lakh. This year we are expecting more than 7 lakh.”
Somasundaram says that the saturation with television has been one of the factors fuelling a renewed interest in reading and the availability of more translated books is another. “In the past few years there have been many vernacular texts that have been translated, allowing readers more choice,” he says. Organisers say that the culture of visiting the library is seeing a decline with the libraries in existence not being properly maintained and updated. Book fairs are doing well, though, they add.
C. Sylendra Babu, ADGP, Coastal Security Group, a writer himself and an avid reader too, urged students to cultivate the reading habit. Towards the end of the event students of Anna Adarsh College for Women and Shri Krishnaswamy College for Women also made a pledge to read more. Organisers add that there needs to be more awareness about reading, especially among the young, “Today’s generation has become tuned to reading for need.
We have so many informative books being regularly released in vernacular languages. Despite this, the habit of enthusiastic reading is lost. We organised this event to bring about some awareness,” says Mr. G. Olivannan, president, CLA. “We organise prose and poetry competitions and debates to encourage the reading habit. But the percentage of students participating in such contests is not satisfactory,” says Mr K.S. Pugalendi, secretary, Bapasi.
