Reading becomes Kashmir’s newest pastime

SRINAGAR: Twenty-seven-year-old Sheikh Aqib, a bank employee, represents Kashmir's new generation of book readers. It took him just two days to read Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code. From Agatha Christie to Arundhati Roy, Aqib reads them all. And it is this new-found interest among youth that has brought smiles to booksellers. They suddenly see a bright future.

"You need peaceful environs for reading books, which was missing," says Sameena Firdous, 29, who has a masters in English literature. "Things have now changed and people want to read and read."

"I had a taste for books since my school days. I used to travel to Delhi from Aligarh Muslim University on Sundays and purchase books in the open market. But things have changed now. We can get good books in Kashmir too," says Aqib.

Like Aqib, there are a lot of people who define book-reading. "I might have read around 1,000 books so far and my thirst is only increasing," says PG Rasool, who works in the department of education. "Things have changed and those who were considering that the internet and satellite channels will redefine trends have been proved wrong."

Today, there are around 140 big and small libraries run by the government in the state. "We have a library in every major teshil of the state. What has encouraged us is the growing number of people who visit our libraries daily," says Syed Mohammad Fazilullah, director of libraries. "We had a book fair last year and 80,000 books were on display. This year, too, we plan to hold some more exhibitions in J&K."

Encouraged by the trend, the state government has decided to increase funding for libraries to Rs50 lakh. Of this, Rs25 lakh will be contributed by the Raja Ram Mohan Roy Foundation. "We have requested the foundation to increase the allocation to 60 per cent," says Syed.

Sociologists attribute the growing reading trend among the youth to the opening of society, information explosion, and competition.

"Information explosion has had an impact on Kashmir as well. People want to learn more and gain knowledge," says Sheikh Khursheed-ul-Islam, assistant professor, Institute of Management and Public Administration.

"Competition in different streams is also leading to greater reading. Social awakening and opening of society have also developed reading habits,” he says.

"Six years ago, the industry was worth Rs3 crore in J&K. It has now grown to Rs18 crore," says Manzoor-ul-Haq, president, Kashmir Book Suppliers and Publishers Association. "Earlier, people had to go to other states to purchase books, but books are now available in J&K as well."

Haq feels the tremendous growth in education has also led to the growth in reading.

"We have 60 private BEd colleges in J&K. Earlier, we used to have three universities; now we have six. This has contributed to the growth in the publishing sector," he adds. "We only lag in the printing sector. We have to go to Delhi to print books. Printing cost is very high in Kashmir and the government needs to take some measures."

It certainly will if reading - Kashmir's newest pastime - has to be sustained.