For the love of reading: Online fora mark World Book Day

The World Book and Copyright Day was marked by online activities, as the power of reading was promoted despite the Covid-19 contagion scare and the lockdown.

The World Book and Copyright Day was marked by online activities, as the power of reading was promoted despite the Covid-19 contagion scare and the lockdown, on Thursday.

Urdu poet Sanjay Mishra ‘Shauq’, who has penned several books, said in an online session organised by Bharat Vimarsh Foundation, “Without books, life is not possible. Without a doubt, books are our best friends. They are the best guides, they are the best teachers. There is no doubt, anyone who connects to books, becomes a better human being. Today, books share our pain and prepare us for the future with confidence.”

He added, “Through books, we come to know about places which we have not visited. They create a feeling which we cannot imagine if we don’t go through them.”

He said, “In normal times, there would have been a number of literary functions but because of this epidemic, the day is being celebrated through online sessions.”

Lucknow Sahityik Manch also organised an online session. Lucknow Sahityik Manch convenor Chandrashekhar Varma, said, “Around 60 writers participated in the online session to popularise book-reading among everyone. Due to the time people spend online, they are deprived of books from many great writers like Jay Shankar Prasad, Sumitranandan Pant, Suryakant Tripathi Nirala, Ramdhari Singh Dinkar, Maithili Sharan Gupt, Bhagwati Charan Varma. Through such book-reading sessions we wish to generate interest in people about book reading.”

Poet Mukul Mahan said, “In 1995, Unesco’s general conference decided to make April 23 the World Book and Copyright Day to acknowledge books and authors and encourage everyone, young people in particular, to discover the pleasure of reading.”

Sarvesh Asthana, another poet, said, “Book Day celebrations are aimed at developing the book-reading habit and development of the book industry. Today, digitisation of books is important as many are into online reading, and online platforms like Kindle are doing good business. By promoting online book-reading habits we can target the youth, especially college-going youngsters.”

Manoj Chandel, who organises the Lucknow Book Fair every year, said, “Lucknowites love books and after the Covid-19 threat is over the book fair will surely be back.”