Monday, November 3, 2008
Thursday, October 23, 2008
See who’s missing
God keeps on saving people in history. Christmas is the beginning of this salvation history. And so, in turning once again to the episode of Christ’s birth at Bethlehem, we come not to recall Christ’s birth twenty centuries ago, but to live that birth here, in the twenty-first century, this year, in our own Christmas here in India.
The Council says humanity’s mystery can be explained only in the mystery of the God who became human. If people want to look into their own mystery – the meaning of their pain, of their work, of their anxieties, of their suffering, of their hope – let them put themselves next to Christ. If they accomplish what Christ accomplished – doing the Father’s will, filling themselves with the life that Christ gives the world – they are fulfilling themselves as true human beings. If I find, on comparing myself with Christ, that my life is a contrast, the opposite of his, then my life is a disaster.
If what the Council expects of us is true, then, no one can celebrate a genuine Christmas without being truly poor. The self-sufficient, the proud, those who, because they have everything, look down on others, those who have no need even of God – for them there will be no Christmas. Only the poor, the hungry, the marginalized, the oppressed, those who need someone to come on their behalf, will have that someone. That someone is God, Emmanuel, God-with-us. Without poverty of spirit there can be no abundance of God.
If God has come for the poor and marginalised then all the stuff that our culture identifies with Christmas-the trees, the lights, the shopping, the dinners and Santa himself-may be just a diversion for us. The Christmas trappings are not bad in themselves. But they may distract us from the uncomfortable truth that Christmas isn’t a celebration that the rich and comfortable can fully celebrate.
Christmas for the poor and the humiliated of our world is the beginning of a revolution that lifts them up. Mary our mother had already said why God sent the child she bore: “He has brought down the rulers from their thrones, and has exalted those who were humble. He has filled the hungry with good things; but sent away the rich empty handed.” (Luke 1:52-3)
If what Mary said is true, then the hungry kids in Africa have more to celebrate than we do. The children in our slums and rural India have more to celebrate than we do. The poor can rejoice because God so identifies with them, that in Christ God entered the world as one of them. That is the real Christmas. We who are rich and powerful in the world can acknowledge Christmas intellectually, but it isn’t good news for us in the same way.
Our celebration of Christmas can grow richer and more genuine as we identify and accept in ourselves our points of poverty and humiliation. The place of our greatest weakness is the humble stable where Christ can appear in our lives. Christmas shows us that our pain and humiliation are not things to reject but are windows through which God’s love and grace can enter.
God has in his goodness, incarnated himself even to the concrete events of the injustices, tortures, humiliations, rejections of our own sad history. That is where we are to find our God.
Advent time is given to us to remind ourselves that we need to prepare for Christmas. Ample time is given to us by the Church before we could worthily celebrate the birth of the great God amidst the simplest and the poor.
But what are we going to prepare? How are we going to prepare ourselves for Christmas? I am sure there will plans and preparations for clothing, cakes, sweets, decorations and dinner with close friends. In a parish level there might be a greater preparation. There might be an elevating singing with a well trained choir, an elaborate liturgy, and there might even be a mighty crib for baby Jesus.
While all these are needed for an external celebration, do we feel the need for preparing ourselves during this advent by making ourselves simple? Do we include the poor, the simple and the marginalised for whom God planned the incarnation?
But see who is missing! In all our preparations, and later in our celebrations, the poor will be missing. We shouldn’t be surprised if Jesus himself, the protagonist of this great celebration, is missing. It might even turn out to be our celebration setting Jesus aside, to make our celebrations more comfortable and enjoyable. We can never meaningfully celebrate Christmas without including Jesus who is in the poor.Let us carefully see who is missing in
The Council says humanity’s mystery can be explained only in the mystery of the God who became human. If people want to look into their own mystery – the meaning of their pain, of their work, of their anxieties, of their suffering, of their hope – let them put themselves next to Christ. If they accomplish what Christ accomplished – doing the Father’s will, filling themselves with the life that Christ gives the world – they are fulfilling themselves as true human beings. If I find, on comparing myself with Christ, that my life is a contrast, the opposite of his, then my life is a disaster.
If what the Council expects of us is true, then, no one can celebrate a genuine Christmas without being truly poor. The self-sufficient, the proud, those who, because they have everything, look down on others, those who have no need even of God – for them there will be no Christmas. Only the poor, the hungry, the marginalized, the oppressed, those who need someone to come on their behalf, will have that someone. That someone is God, Emmanuel, God-with-us. Without poverty of spirit there can be no abundance of God.
If God has come for the poor and marginalised then all the stuff that our culture identifies with Christmas-the trees, the lights, the shopping, the dinners and Santa himself-may be just a diversion for us. The Christmas trappings are not bad in themselves. But they may distract us from the uncomfortable truth that Christmas isn’t a celebration that the rich and comfortable can fully celebrate.
Christmas for the poor and the humiliated of our world is the beginning of a revolution that lifts them up. Mary our mother had already said why God sent the child she bore: “He has brought down the rulers from their thrones, and has exalted those who were humble. He has filled the hungry with good things; but sent away the rich empty handed.” (Luke 1:52-3)
If what Mary said is true, then the hungry kids in Africa have more to celebrate than we do. The children in our slums and rural India have more to celebrate than we do. The poor can rejoice because God so identifies with them, that in Christ God entered the world as one of them. That is the real Christmas. We who are rich and powerful in the world can acknowledge Christmas intellectually, but it isn’t good news for us in the same way.
Our celebration of Christmas can grow richer and more genuine as we identify and accept in ourselves our points of poverty and humiliation. The place of our greatest weakness is the humble stable where Christ can appear in our lives. Christmas shows us that our pain and humiliation are not things to reject but are windows through which God’s love and grace can enter.
God has in his goodness, incarnated himself even to the concrete events of the injustices, tortures, humiliations, rejections of our own sad history. That is where we are to find our God.
Advent time is given to us to remind ourselves that we need to prepare for Christmas. Ample time is given to us by the Church before we could worthily celebrate the birth of the great God amidst the simplest and the poor.
But what are we going to prepare? How are we going to prepare ourselves for Christmas? I am sure there will plans and preparations for clothing, cakes, sweets, decorations and dinner with close friends. In a parish level there might be a greater preparation. There might be an elevating singing with a well trained choir, an elaborate liturgy, and there might even be a mighty crib for baby Jesus.
While all these are needed for an external celebration, do we feel the need for preparing ourselves during this advent by making ourselves simple? Do we include the poor, the simple and the marginalised for whom God planned the incarnation?
But see who is missing! In all our preparations, and later in our celebrations, the poor will be missing. We shouldn’t be surprised if Jesus himself, the protagonist of this great celebration, is missing. It might even turn out to be our celebration setting Jesus aside, to make our celebrations more comfortable and enjoyable. We can never meaningfully celebrate Christmas without including Jesus who is in the poor.Let us carefully see who is missing in
“Ephphatha” “ Be opened”
“Ephphatha” – “Be opened” These were the repeated words in the homily of Pope Benedict XVI, which he delivered at Sunday mass on September 10, delivered before an estimated 250,000 people in Munich.
The Gospel reading he used, speaks of Jesus’s healing of a man born deaf and mute. Jesus is concerned for the suffering, those pushed to the margins of society. He obviously points out the goal of all our activity: “ To speak of God is to speak of society.”
There is not only a physical deafness which largely cuts people off from social life; there is also a ‘hardness of hearing’ where God is concerned, and this is something from which we particularly suffer in our own times. In other words, we are no longer able to hear God – there are too many different frequencies filling our ears. Along with this disability we are no longer able to converse with him and to him. We risk losing our inner senses.
Jesus’s healing the deaf man by saying “Ephphatha” – “Be opened” might be of a distant past; He continues to do the same thing, even today. At our Baptism he touched each of us and said “Ephphatha” – “Be opened”. He says the same thing for the salesians and the members of the salesian family today, “Ephphatha” – “Be opened,” through the call of the Rector Major to start afresh from Don Bosco and to be open to hear Don Bosco and the young.
We are no longer able to hear Don Bosco and the young. We are too busy with our own plans for ourselves and our institutions while the institutions meant for the young are hardly open for the young.
Pope in his homily said, “ Social issues and the Gospel are inseparable.” Surprisingly Don Bosco and the young are inseparable. That is why he had as his motto: Da Mihi Animas Cetera Tolle - Give me Souls and take away the rest. Don Bosco was willing to give all his time and energy for the poor boys. A great driving force indeed!
At a time when the west is stagnant with regard to vocations to salesian life, the call of the Rector Major comes as the words of Jesus, “Ephphatha” – “Be opened” to all of us, the members of the salesian family in South Asia.
People in Africa and Asia admire the scientific and technical prowess of the west. At the same time they are frightened of the controlling rationality behind that outward elegance. When we bring people only knowledge, ability, technical competence and tools, we bring them too little. All too quickly the mechanisms of violence and evil take over. We need to give to the young the peace and tranquility that a serene interior life can offer. The call of the Rector Major compels us to extend our support to the young who really need God and Don Bosco back.
We, the salesian family, just celebrated the centenary of the arrival of Salesians to India. We are happy about the achievements in terms of technical advancement and the infrastructural development and yet we need to achieve much in terms of the spirituality and the meaning system of the young who are so promising and yet so weak in nature.
Time is right for us to reach out to the remotest corners of the earth. Let us reaffirm this commitment we have for Don Bosco and for the young. Let all our inner sensibilities be opened for this call. “Ephphatha” – “Be opened”
The Gospel reading he used, speaks of Jesus’s healing of a man born deaf and mute. Jesus is concerned for the suffering, those pushed to the margins of society. He obviously points out the goal of all our activity: “ To speak of God is to speak of society.”
There is not only a physical deafness which largely cuts people off from social life; there is also a ‘hardness of hearing’ where God is concerned, and this is something from which we particularly suffer in our own times. In other words, we are no longer able to hear God – there are too many different frequencies filling our ears. Along with this disability we are no longer able to converse with him and to him. We risk losing our inner senses.
Jesus’s healing the deaf man by saying “Ephphatha” – “Be opened” might be of a distant past; He continues to do the same thing, even today. At our Baptism he touched each of us and said “Ephphatha” – “Be opened”. He says the same thing for the salesians and the members of the salesian family today, “Ephphatha” – “Be opened,” through the call of the Rector Major to start afresh from Don Bosco and to be open to hear Don Bosco and the young.
We are no longer able to hear Don Bosco and the young. We are too busy with our own plans for ourselves and our institutions while the institutions meant for the young are hardly open for the young.
Pope in his homily said, “ Social issues and the Gospel are inseparable.” Surprisingly Don Bosco and the young are inseparable. That is why he had as his motto: Da Mihi Animas Cetera Tolle - Give me Souls and take away the rest. Don Bosco was willing to give all his time and energy for the poor boys. A great driving force indeed!
At a time when the west is stagnant with regard to vocations to salesian life, the call of the Rector Major comes as the words of Jesus, “Ephphatha” – “Be opened” to all of us, the members of the salesian family in South Asia.
People in Africa and Asia admire the scientific and technical prowess of the west. At the same time they are frightened of the controlling rationality behind that outward elegance. When we bring people only knowledge, ability, technical competence and tools, we bring them too little. All too quickly the mechanisms of violence and evil take over. We need to give to the young the peace and tranquility that a serene interior life can offer. The call of the Rector Major compels us to extend our support to the young who really need God and Don Bosco back.
We, the salesian family, just celebrated the centenary of the arrival of Salesians to India. We are happy about the achievements in terms of technical advancement and the infrastructural development and yet we need to achieve much in terms of the spirituality and the meaning system of the young who are so promising and yet so weak in nature.
Time is right for us to reach out to the remotest corners of the earth. Let us reaffirm this commitment we have for Don Bosco and for the young. Let all our inner sensibilities be opened for this call. “Ephphatha” – “Be opened”
Gift your child reading habit
We give gifts to our friends, relatives and loved ones. Often we wonder what gift can be given to our dear ones. Particularly, when we take time to visit a family with kids, we always stop at a departmental store to buy toys sweets, toffees, pizzas etc..., to be given to their children. How many of us really pause to think for a while to buy a good collection of reading material to them? As parents you can give books for your children as their birthday and Christmas presents or when they excel well in school. Let us remember the habit of reading can be a life time gift for your child.
Remember the good old habit of traditional families to narrate the history of the family; the struggles and joys of yesteryears to their children to carryon the great legacy which the family cherishes. Impressionable minds can be nurtured and moulded in ways more than one. But books and the printed word are among the best tools used for reaching out to a child in today’s hurry burry world. Despite the deep penetrating reach of the visual media, books have a definite edge over other mediums of communication and entertainment. Child psychologists and counselors have often stressed the importance of the reading habit in modern-day children.
As we realise that reading habit is important for your family, start reading as this habit will sooner or later influence your surrounding. Spending even ten minutes a day with your children will make them love both the time for reading and the time to attach with you. If you include expense for books in your budget you and children should often visit the bookshop or book fair. Even visiting any libraries that are available in your neighbourhood, schools, universities, clubs, etc. will increase their love for books. Sharing books will increase their knowledge without costing you much. When you help your children to make their own books, it is cheap but exciting. They can draw or cut pictures from magazines and write their own stories according to their imagination. It increases their power to actualise.
There is another way that will make children interested in books. Usually children like watching cartoons like “Nemo, Lion King, Mickey Mouse, Winnie the Pooh”, some traditional legends, puppets and stories. It is very interesting if they watch the movie on show and then read the books.
Reading habit should be the example for your children because deeds speak louder than words. When your children see you reading they will know that reading is a good habit.
Do not wait until your children are able to read to give them books. Start as soon as they were born. If you often communicate with your babies and read stories for them, their language ability will increase. It is never too late for your child to start reading. Preferably, catch the child young. Bring him other colorful books, so that reading becomes a favorite pastime. The parent has also got to read enough in order to become a model for the little one. And not to forget, family reading is the best way to grow. Ever remember your initial sessions with your grandma! Bed time reading is considered the best quality time spent with a kid. Psychiatrists feel that bed time reading helps to build strong bonding with the child
Language is a gift for a child and books give this gift in abundance. Children’s brain is easier to absorb language than an adult. Hence another benefit of reading books is they can learn foreign language very easily. If a child is raised up by a couple of different nationalities, the child will be able to speak two languages of his parents. Because of children’s ability to absorb new language fast, you can use foreign language story books to introduce and teach them the languages.
Reading a book aloud can be a good exercise not just for memorization but also for improvement of speech and vocabulary.Reading sharpens the thought processes of a child It increases his or her attention span. It gives them the faculty of thinking and understanding.
So by investing your time and your kids’ time for reading good books, you invest better future for your family.
Remember the good old habit of traditional families to narrate the history of the family; the struggles and joys of yesteryears to their children to carryon the great legacy which the family cherishes. Impressionable minds can be nurtured and moulded in ways more than one. But books and the printed word are among the best tools used for reaching out to a child in today’s hurry burry world. Despite the deep penetrating reach of the visual media, books have a definite edge over other mediums of communication and entertainment. Child psychologists and counselors have often stressed the importance of the reading habit in modern-day children.
As we realise that reading habit is important for your family, start reading as this habit will sooner or later influence your surrounding. Spending even ten minutes a day with your children will make them love both the time for reading and the time to attach with you. If you include expense for books in your budget you and children should often visit the bookshop or book fair. Even visiting any libraries that are available in your neighbourhood, schools, universities, clubs, etc. will increase their love for books. Sharing books will increase their knowledge without costing you much. When you help your children to make their own books, it is cheap but exciting. They can draw or cut pictures from magazines and write their own stories according to their imagination. It increases their power to actualise.
There is another way that will make children interested in books. Usually children like watching cartoons like “Nemo, Lion King, Mickey Mouse, Winnie the Pooh”, some traditional legends, puppets and stories. It is very interesting if they watch the movie on show and then read the books.
Reading habit should be the example for your children because deeds speak louder than words. When your children see you reading they will know that reading is a good habit.
Do not wait until your children are able to read to give them books. Start as soon as they were born. If you often communicate with your babies and read stories for them, their language ability will increase. It is never too late for your child to start reading. Preferably, catch the child young. Bring him other colorful books, so that reading becomes a favorite pastime. The parent has also got to read enough in order to become a model for the little one. And not to forget, family reading is the best way to grow. Ever remember your initial sessions with your grandma! Bed time reading is considered the best quality time spent with a kid. Psychiatrists feel that bed time reading helps to build strong bonding with the child
Language is a gift for a child and books give this gift in abundance. Children’s brain is easier to absorb language than an adult. Hence another benefit of reading books is they can learn foreign language very easily. If a child is raised up by a couple of different nationalities, the child will be able to speak two languages of his parents. Because of children’s ability to absorb new language fast, you can use foreign language story books to introduce and teach them the languages.
Reading a book aloud can be a good exercise not just for memorization but also for improvement of speech and vocabulary.Reading sharpens the thought processes of a child It increases his or her attention span. It gives them the faculty of thinking and understanding.
So by investing your time and your kids’ time for reading good books, you invest better future for your family.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Ten ways to strengthen your reading habit
Pleasures of reading are numerous. Reading of books magazines and news papers has a great impact on our minds .Reading makes us cultured and refined. Most people wish they read more. It is an activity that is both fun and enlightening. It can help us to be more knowledgeable and successful. However, it is an activity that many people don’t engage in very much. According to the 1999 National Household Education Survey, 50% of the U.S. population aged 25 and over read a newspaper at least once a week, read one or more magazines regularly, and had read a book in the past 6 months. What does this mean? It means that 50% of the population hasn’t read a book in the last six months!
Looking at the other end of the spectrum, research shows that if you read ten books a year, you are in the top few percent of all people as readers. Simply stated, it doesn’t take much to be well read, but we do need to know how to get started. The following are ten suggestions to help you strengthen your reading habit – ways to find and make more time for reading.
1. Always have a book around. Don’t go anywhere without reading material. Keep magazines or short stories in your bathroom. Always have something in your briefcase to read. Having things available makes it easier for you to steal otherwise lost moments.
2. Set a reading goal. Determine how much time you want to spend reading, or how many books you want to read over time. Your goal might be a book a month, one per week, or it might be to read 30 minutes a day. As your habit builds, you might set higher goals. Setting a goal is the first step towards reading more.
3. Keep a log. Keep a list of the books you have read, or keep track of how much time you read each day. You might keep these lists in your journal or your day planner.
4. Keep a list. Make a list of things you want to read in the future. Ask your friends and colleagues what they are reading. Watch for recommendations in the newspaper and magazines. Once you start looking for good books, you’ll find them everywhere. This is a great way to keep your enthusiasm up. By knowing what great stuff you want to read, you will reinforce your reading habit.
5. Turn off the television. Many people say they just don’t have enough time. Television is one of our major time consumers. Make your television watching more conscious and less habitual
6. Listen when you can’t read. Use your commute and other time spent in the car to listen! There are great audio versions of all sorts of books. Whether you want to “read” fiction, the latest self-help or diet book, it is probably available on tape. Experience ideas and imagination that reading a book can.
7. Join a reading group or book club. Reading groups typically meet once a month to discuss a book they have all decided to read. Committing to the group provides a bit more impetus to finish the book, and gives you a great forum for discussion and socialization around the book’s themes.
8. Visit the library or bookstore often. You have your list, right? So you’ll have some ideas of what you are looking for when you walk in. But there is more to be gained by walking through places where books reside than just to make a transaction. Take time to browse! Let your eyes find things of interest. Let serendipity happen. Browsing will feed your mental need to read, and give you plenty of new things to read.
9. Build your own strategy. Decide when reading fits your schedule. And there is more to your strategy than just timing. Make your own decisions about reading It is ok to be reading more than one book at once. It is ok to stop reading something before you finish if it isn’t holding your interest. It is ok to skim the book, getting what you want or need, without reading every page. Determine what works best for you, develop your own beliefs and ideas - then make them work for you.
10.Drop everything and read. Many schools have introduced this concept and have succeeded a lot .When the teacher calls for ,that’s just what they do. They read now. That is my last piece of advice for you. Do it. Just get started .Make it DEAR time .Now to READ.
Let us cherish and nourish the good old reading habit.
Looking at the other end of the spectrum, research shows that if you read ten books a year, you are in the top few percent of all people as readers. Simply stated, it doesn’t take much to be well read, but we do need to know how to get started. The following are ten suggestions to help you strengthen your reading habit – ways to find and make more time for reading.
1. Always have a book around. Don’t go anywhere without reading material. Keep magazines or short stories in your bathroom. Always have something in your briefcase to read. Having things available makes it easier for you to steal otherwise lost moments.
2. Set a reading goal. Determine how much time you want to spend reading, or how many books you want to read over time. Your goal might be a book a month, one per week, or it might be to read 30 minutes a day. As your habit builds, you might set higher goals. Setting a goal is the first step towards reading more.
3. Keep a log. Keep a list of the books you have read, or keep track of how much time you read each day. You might keep these lists in your journal or your day planner.
4. Keep a list. Make a list of things you want to read in the future. Ask your friends and colleagues what they are reading. Watch for recommendations in the newspaper and magazines. Once you start looking for good books, you’ll find them everywhere. This is a great way to keep your enthusiasm up. By knowing what great stuff you want to read, you will reinforce your reading habit.
5. Turn off the television. Many people say they just don’t have enough time. Television is one of our major time consumers. Make your television watching more conscious and less habitual
6. Listen when you can’t read. Use your commute and other time spent in the car to listen! There are great audio versions of all sorts of books. Whether you want to “read” fiction, the latest self-help or diet book, it is probably available on tape. Experience ideas and imagination that reading a book can.
7. Join a reading group or book club. Reading groups typically meet once a month to discuss a book they have all decided to read. Committing to the group provides a bit more impetus to finish the book, and gives you a great forum for discussion and socialization around the book’s themes.
8. Visit the library or bookstore often. You have your list, right? So you’ll have some ideas of what you are looking for when you walk in. But there is more to be gained by walking through places where books reside than just to make a transaction. Take time to browse! Let your eyes find things of interest. Let serendipity happen. Browsing will feed your mental need to read, and give you plenty of new things to read.
9. Build your own strategy. Decide when reading fits your schedule. And there is more to your strategy than just timing. Make your own decisions about reading It is ok to be reading more than one book at once. It is ok to stop reading something before you finish if it isn’t holding your interest. It is ok to skim the book, getting what you want or need, without reading every page. Determine what works best for you, develop your own beliefs and ideas - then make them work for you.
10.Drop everything and read. Many schools have introduced this concept and have succeeded a lot .When the teacher calls for ,that’s just what they do. They read now. That is my last piece of advice for you. Do it. Just get started .Make it DEAR time .Now to READ.
Let us cherish and nourish the good old reading habit.
Interview with Mr. Fabian, Landmark
From 1987 starting the first Landmark in Nungambakkam Chennai, they went on to open in Bangalore , Bombay, Hyderabad, Kokatta and two more in Chennai alone. Here are the titbits of the interview.
Q : Have the number of readers increased or decreased compared to the past?
A : It has increased. People are reading more
Q : How do you rate the readers of the present time with the readers of yester years? any change you find with the readers?
A: Most of the readers who come are youngsters. They are not only going for fiction or literature but also for other bestsellers like philosophy, self development, business more than literature which used to be the most common topic for readers.
Q : What age group of people generally frequent your bookstall? Children, youth, Adult, research scholars.
A:Youngsters and adults. Above forty are the good customers.
Q : What kind of books they prefer?
A :Youth prefer self development books. Most of them go for particular authors. Harry potter was not a favourite of children but they prefer to watch the movie. Research oriented books…are sold better
Q : Has the sale of books increased ? You have opened two more branches in Chennai itself.
A: Yes
Q : Which is read more? Magazines, Books or Newspapers?
A : Books are read more than magazines and newspapers.
Q : Do you strongly feel that television or internet have the reduced the reading habit?
A: No they have supplemented. People instead of wasting time in the bookstore, they spend time to browse through the internet to see the basic details and the availability of the book and they come to buy. Internet is used only for reference. Reading and books were not at all replaced by the internet.
Q : Any boom in sale in the recent years, like the Harry Potter?
A: Harry Potter had a good sale. But in the recent times there was a remarkable sale with the book, “How Opel Mehta got kissed got wild and got a life” by Kavya Viswanathan, 18 years old about the campus life. She copied 40 pages from another author. But the book was banned. This had big sale even in our store. Similarly the book Da vinci Code by Dan Brown is getting sold very well even now. Anything related to Da Vinci Code also sold. For quite a long time this is being sold like hot cakes.
Q : Youngsters are going through lot of books. But are they really buying?
A : Yes. Many come and sit here and read full day and then buy books. I am positive about the reading habit of youth. They come not only to Landmark but also to Higginbotham, Odyssey, IIT books are the best sellers.
Anything for you is from IIM . Such books are sold well. Such books ate picked up by youth. Particularly the graduates.
Q : Have the number of readers increased or decreased compared to the past?
A : It has increased. People are reading more
Q : How do you rate the readers of the present time with the readers of yester years? any change you find with the readers?
A: Most of the readers who come are youngsters. They are not only going for fiction or literature but also for other bestsellers like philosophy, self development, business more than literature which used to be the most common topic for readers.
Q : What age group of people generally frequent your bookstall? Children, youth, Adult, research scholars.
A:Youngsters and adults. Above forty are the good customers.
Q : What kind of books they prefer?
A :Youth prefer self development books. Most of them go for particular authors. Harry potter was not a favourite of children but they prefer to watch the movie. Research oriented books…are sold better
Q : Has the sale of books increased ? You have opened two more branches in Chennai itself.
A: Yes
Q : Which is read more? Magazines, Books or Newspapers?
A : Books are read more than magazines and newspapers.
Q : Do you strongly feel that television or internet have the reduced the reading habit?
A: No they have supplemented. People instead of wasting time in the bookstore, they spend time to browse through the internet to see the basic details and the availability of the book and they come to buy. Internet is used only for reference. Reading and books were not at all replaced by the internet.
Q : Any boom in sale in the recent years, like the Harry Potter?
A: Harry Potter had a good sale. But in the recent times there was a remarkable sale with the book, “How Opel Mehta got kissed got wild and got a life” by Kavya Viswanathan, 18 years old about the campus life. She copied 40 pages from another author. But the book was banned. This had big sale even in our store. Similarly the book Da vinci Code by Dan Brown is getting sold very well even now. Anything related to Da Vinci Code also sold. For quite a long time this is being sold like hot cakes.
Q : Youngsters are going through lot of books. But are they really buying?
A : Yes. Many come and sit here and read full day and then buy books. I am positive about the reading habit of youth. They come not only to Landmark but also to Higginbotham, Odyssey, IIT books are the best sellers.
Anything for you is from IIM . Such books are sold well. Such books ate picked up by youth. Particularly the graduates.
Good Old Reading
To acquire the habit of reading is to construct for yourself a refuge from almost all the miseries of life. -W. Somerset Maugham
In an age when browsing the net, playing with funky handsets and passing non-stop SMSs seem to be the order of the day, reading a book in a peaceful corner of a library has become an archaic idea for most people. While technology is slowly taking a steady control over individual lives, the reading habit is fast vanishing into thin air. The city libraries are a mute witness to this. They present a gloomy picture of the gradual depletion of voracious readers who used to flock the libraries every evening. Apart from a few elderly people and a handful of students, the libraries wear a deserted look most of the time.
These libraries are neither stacked nor maintained well. Hundreds of books lie on the shelves gathering dust, and most of them remain ungrouped. Librarians blame it on the lack of staff and proper funds for renovation.
Much after the Internet boom, reading was almost wiped across you lives as the interactive medium of images was so engrossing that it left little room for the dotted line. With the dish antenna entering our reverie-like homes, there was literally such a hue and cry for imagery all around that somehow simple pleasures like an intelligent game of scrabble or even a small get-together of families was a lost feature!
A decade ago if someone said that he or she hadn’t read a Tagore or a Tolstoy, that person was looked down upon by others. There was a strong sense of accountability and responsibility among the youth. They were much more conscious and well read because at that time ‘simple living and high thinking’ was the dictum. But with the gradual advent of globalisation and nuclear family structures, life has become mechanical and money-oriented. Students are constantly being whipped for performance and the concept of intrinsic value addition is now a long lost idea. Despite being educated and brought up in a rational society, there are times when we fail to understand the difference between intelligence and wisdom! Perhaps it’s only when you observe and understand the world around you, do you realize that difference can be altered for increasing your pace of the learning curve.
Sadly, the reading habit is on the decline among children as well. Ordinarily kids dislike reading material that is dedicatedly made for them as their appreciation for listening skills are so honed that school sub consciously makes them listen to tales and instructions. Popeye and his gang, aided by multimedia games have drowned the shuffle of the pages. Though the Harry Potter mania gripped children these days, it could just be another ephemeral phase withering away sooner or later.
“But why blame it on the kids for all this wean-off-from-reading culture? It is the parents who are responsible for this,” says an English professor. Parents blame it on the mounting pressure on the children in schools and tuition classes.
“My son hardly gets time to read story books. In the little time he gets after finishing the home work, all he wants to do is watch the cartoon channel or play video games,” says Vijaylakshmi whose nine-year-old son ”is glued to the idiot” box whenever he gets the time. The other problem is that there is a tremendous pressure upon students to perform and excel.
The situation is no better among college students. Library for them becomes popular only before the final examination. It is then that the students, in a panic state, just browse through their course related books.
There are also regular visitors to the libraries among them, though they constitute a small minority who frequently borrow books. ‘’But more often than not, students visit the libraries for their research work rather than reading a book for their own pleasure. In fact, nowadays libraries have become common hangouts for the college students,’’ remarks another professor.
But what is the reason behind this wean-off-from-reading attitude? ‘’Parents are so psyched about the future of their children that most of the times it is they who discourage their wards from reading any other book than their textbooks,’’ the professors say.
Tough and intense competition has further deepened the insecurity among the middle class families. ‘’But they fail to understand that for an all-round development of an individual, reading habit is essential.’’ If at the primary level, the habit of reading books is not cultivated among children, then at the college level it becomes very difficult to develop the habit. ‘’That is why we feel that extra reading should be made compulsory at the school level,’’ they say.
Some assert that reading is not a diversion from serious tasks; rather it contributes to the fulfilment of those tasks. ‘’At a time when it is not rare to find students using dubious means and short-uts to pass examinations, the reading skill, if instilled in them, will make them savour learning and also increase their faith in themselves and their abilities.’’
In spite of such refrains, books continue to find their way to the right readers. Libraries in the city may not boast of good attendance, but they do attract ardent readers, who still exist somewhere in the midst of this discouraging scenario. That many contemporary writers are coming out with masterpieces on different subjects is an indicator to this fact. At a time when recreation, enjoyment and mechanical learning have become operative words, it is reassuring to find that bibliophiles are there. It does not matter whether these such booklovers access books on-line or browse them physically, before buying them.
However, reading has probably survived a plethora of distractions and has yet maintained to be some of choicest hobbies one would choose to possess! Avid readers tend to have a better grasp on realities and are known to be better judges of people. Of course the type of books you read quite generally depends on your attitude and personality! But reading as a habit has always allowed to nurture a wholesome sense of well being. Being a total book worm it wasn’t difficult to let my brother also accept this so-far genetic habit, but it did take quite a while for me to sell this idea to him! Most of us read books to lull ourselves to sleep.
Walking Tall with a Book
Perhaps we as human beings, distinct as we are from the rest of the living species need to build up this habit of reading as especially for kids it’s really difficult for parents to make the switch from a totally pictured short comic to a immensely boring book of at least a hundred pages, specifically one that has no images or diagrams. I faced that problem myself so I don’t blame any kid who’d frown at the idea.
And as we age the books also tend to age with us. With our professional lifestyles, it’s difficult to manage a non-fiction, with deadlines set for the next day’s presentation! After all who’d want a taste of the boss’s ire! Many of us miss out on reading in this very manner and sadly it is only in times of sorrow or grief that we seek refuge in reading some sensible stuff that is either in the form of a ’Live it up!’, book or some of us might be inclined towards religion!Of course all of this reading comes only next to our listening to others talk about optimism when we are down an out! From all of this I can only conclude that if you choose to make reading your constant companion, you’ll never walk alone! Besides you’ll have more to discover in life than you’d ever thought about! Think about it, somewhere, in some bright corner of the world, there’s some book waiting for you!
In an age when browsing the net, playing with funky handsets and passing non-stop SMSs seem to be the order of the day, reading a book in a peaceful corner of a library has become an archaic idea for most people. While technology is slowly taking a steady control over individual lives, the reading habit is fast vanishing into thin air. The city libraries are a mute witness to this. They present a gloomy picture of the gradual depletion of voracious readers who used to flock the libraries every evening. Apart from a few elderly people and a handful of students, the libraries wear a deserted look most of the time.
These libraries are neither stacked nor maintained well. Hundreds of books lie on the shelves gathering dust, and most of them remain ungrouped. Librarians blame it on the lack of staff and proper funds for renovation.
Much after the Internet boom, reading was almost wiped across you lives as the interactive medium of images was so engrossing that it left little room for the dotted line. With the dish antenna entering our reverie-like homes, there was literally such a hue and cry for imagery all around that somehow simple pleasures like an intelligent game of scrabble or even a small get-together of families was a lost feature!
A decade ago if someone said that he or she hadn’t read a Tagore or a Tolstoy, that person was looked down upon by others. There was a strong sense of accountability and responsibility among the youth. They were much more conscious and well read because at that time ‘simple living and high thinking’ was the dictum. But with the gradual advent of globalisation and nuclear family structures, life has become mechanical and money-oriented. Students are constantly being whipped for performance and the concept of intrinsic value addition is now a long lost idea. Despite being educated and brought up in a rational society, there are times when we fail to understand the difference between intelligence and wisdom! Perhaps it’s only when you observe and understand the world around you, do you realize that difference can be altered for increasing your pace of the learning curve.
Sadly, the reading habit is on the decline among children as well. Ordinarily kids dislike reading material that is dedicatedly made for them as their appreciation for listening skills are so honed that school sub consciously makes them listen to tales and instructions. Popeye and his gang, aided by multimedia games have drowned the shuffle of the pages. Though the Harry Potter mania gripped children these days, it could just be another ephemeral phase withering away sooner or later.
“But why blame it on the kids for all this wean-off-from-reading culture? It is the parents who are responsible for this,” says an English professor. Parents blame it on the mounting pressure on the children in schools and tuition classes.
“My son hardly gets time to read story books. In the little time he gets after finishing the home work, all he wants to do is watch the cartoon channel or play video games,” says Vijaylakshmi whose nine-year-old son ”is glued to the idiot” box whenever he gets the time. The other problem is that there is a tremendous pressure upon students to perform and excel.
The situation is no better among college students. Library for them becomes popular only before the final examination. It is then that the students, in a panic state, just browse through their course related books.
There are also regular visitors to the libraries among them, though they constitute a small minority who frequently borrow books. ‘’But more often than not, students visit the libraries for their research work rather than reading a book for their own pleasure. In fact, nowadays libraries have become common hangouts for the college students,’’ remarks another professor.
But what is the reason behind this wean-off-from-reading attitude? ‘’Parents are so psyched about the future of their children that most of the times it is they who discourage their wards from reading any other book than their textbooks,’’ the professors say.
Tough and intense competition has further deepened the insecurity among the middle class families. ‘’But they fail to understand that for an all-round development of an individual, reading habit is essential.’’ If at the primary level, the habit of reading books is not cultivated among children, then at the college level it becomes very difficult to develop the habit. ‘’That is why we feel that extra reading should be made compulsory at the school level,’’ they say.
Some assert that reading is not a diversion from serious tasks; rather it contributes to the fulfilment of those tasks. ‘’At a time when it is not rare to find students using dubious means and short-uts to pass examinations, the reading skill, if instilled in them, will make them savour learning and also increase their faith in themselves and their abilities.’’
In spite of such refrains, books continue to find their way to the right readers. Libraries in the city may not boast of good attendance, but they do attract ardent readers, who still exist somewhere in the midst of this discouraging scenario. That many contemporary writers are coming out with masterpieces on different subjects is an indicator to this fact. At a time when recreation, enjoyment and mechanical learning have become operative words, it is reassuring to find that bibliophiles are there. It does not matter whether these such booklovers access books on-line or browse them physically, before buying them.
However, reading has probably survived a plethora of distractions and has yet maintained to be some of choicest hobbies one would choose to possess! Avid readers tend to have a better grasp on realities and are known to be better judges of people. Of course the type of books you read quite generally depends on your attitude and personality! But reading as a habit has always allowed to nurture a wholesome sense of well being. Being a total book worm it wasn’t difficult to let my brother also accept this so-far genetic habit, but it did take quite a while for me to sell this idea to him! Most of us read books to lull ourselves to sleep.
Walking Tall with a Book
Perhaps we as human beings, distinct as we are from the rest of the living species need to build up this habit of reading as especially for kids it’s really difficult for parents to make the switch from a totally pictured short comic to a immensely boring book of at least a hundred pages, specifically one that has no images or diagrams. I faced that problem myself so I don’t blame any kid who’d frown at the idea.
And as we age the books also tend to age with us. With our professional lifestyles, it’s difficult to manage a non-fiction, with deadlines set for the next day’s presentation! After all who’d want a taste of the boss’s ire! Many of us miss out on reading in this very manner and sadly it is only in times of sorrow or grief that we seek refuge in reading some sensible stuff that is either in the form of a ’Live it up!’, book or some of us might be inclined towards religion!Of course all of this reading comes only next to our listening to others talk about optimism when we are down an out! From all of this I can only conclude that if you choose to make reading your constant companion, you’ll never walk alone! Besides you’ll have more to discover in life than you’d ever thought about! Think about it, somewhere, in some bright corner of the world, there’s some book waiting for you!
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