Everyone Should Read Books
Yaddanapudi Sulochana
Rani
Books are concealed gurus to man. To those who are lost in the entanglement of life and grope in darkness, disappointments and disillusions, books like a true friend, like a lighthouse, spread light and enlighten, showing the way.
Man is not born in this world with ready knowledge. Parents, schools and teachers educate him to some extent. This was true in the past. Today everything is measured, mechanical and cut to size.
A writer is just an individual like any other person. But as his finer instincts respond spontaneously, a sort of inner conflict stimulates his mind and he begins to examine life and the people around him. He analyses the questions that beset his mind and yearns for answers. His sharp quest dips him into a deep silence resulting in his thoughts taking the shape of words.
Today man spends money for counseling to solve his problems and face life. But from times immemorial we have been getting ‘counseling’ naturally through good books. Through the Vedas, the Upanishads, the epics Ramayana and Mahabharata and innumerable books on morals, the writers of the past ages handed down the knowledge that is most necessary and essential for mankind. We have been satiating our thirst for knowledge and enlightenment by going back again and again to those writers with avidity. Now we celebrate this ‘Day’ and that ‘Day’ but never think of the writers who gave us epics and never celebrate a festival in their name. We don’t teach our children anything about their greatness.
From the times of palm-leaf ‘books’ to the present day computer disks, we observe the change only in the process of denoting the word. But the ‘word’ has not been destroyed. Just as ‘to-day’ is the bridge between yesterday and tomorrow, we as ‘to-day’ should act as the connecting link between the ancient knowledge of the past and tomorrow’s technology. If we do not safe-guard this amalgamation with a strong foundation, the future generations will not pardon our lethargy and purposelessness.
From the time a baby learns its first steps and begins to lisp words, from the time the child begins to love its mother, father and grand parents, every member of the family should make it a point to make the child like books in its little world of love. If a person takes into his mind the book as a special companion he will not feel lonely in the world. If the schools and learning teach man how to earn money, books teach him to understand the people around him. Books help us to understand our inner self which our parents, life partners, our children and our close friends do not understand. Books lessen to a very large extent our inner conflict with ourselves and the external world around us. Therefore I strongly feel that every person should learn to respect and love the concealed guru in books. Books are an immense treasure of knowledge and we should make our lives enlightened by making them our main prop and support.
As for myself I learnt many things by being the disciple of this concealed guru and by respecting him. The fears, the illusions and doubts about life that bothered me left me by reading them. Self-confidence grew two-fold by reading them. I could develop self-control in enjoying happiness, in facing sorrows, in loving, in hating and other such aspects of life. Now life is one of happiness for me. Because of this knowledge and enlightenment I could foster a special quality of detachment compared to others. I feel greatly indebted to the writers whom I have not seen and known personally.
I feel that the need for establishing libraries now is of greater importance than building temples. Books should become a part of the life of people. Library festivals should be celebrated every month, not once a year. These days mini sky-scrapers are coming up everywhere with parks, gyms, swimming pools etc., as part of buildings. These structures should invariably have libraries for adults, youth and children also. Why not a library in every street? Like vegetables and milk, books too should become a daily need for man. You may be asked whether books give you food. We should have to answer back effectively that books lend individuality to man. Just as the sacred river Ganga has impurities there are some undesirable books too. One should possess the ability to choose the best which act as one’s friend and guide.
Today the book-world is dwindling in size. We pay tax towards books and we should know how much of the cess is diverted towards buying good books and improving facilities. An autonomous society should go into all these details. If we do not take such measures there is the danger of snuffing out the light that enlightens our minds. If not books will make a silent exit from our homes like an unwanted guest before the T.V. and the cinema. This will turn out as a curse to our children later in life. Books should not only be read, their existence should be safe-guarded too.