 |
Four years ago, I took up Goodread's annual reading challenge and set a target of 36 books. I was quite confident that I would finish much more than 36 (three books per month). By the way, that confidence wasn’t backed by any past history (just my overconfidence). Twelve months came and went, but I completed only 5-6 books. Next year, I kept the same target; only to fail once more. Next year, target was reduced to 12 - and still fell short. Finally, this year, I decided not to set any target at all!!!
I’m not a voracious reader, but I do enjoy reading. If it’s a thrilling novel, an interesting work of fiction, or even biographies (that doesn’t try too hard to showcase the author’s command over language), I can finish it quickly. But when it comes to business, non-fiction, or self-improvement books - often written in dense, heavy language - turning the pages becomes a struggle. More often end up leaving those books half way and end up just another entry in my book shelf.
With the explosion of content in YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and other numerous apps; people’s attention spans reduced considerably. Reading books, however, is not about quick consumption — it requires committed, focused, quality time. The real question is, are we still willing to invest that time and find joy in it or just run after another two minute video?
At office, we have a book club. Out of nearly 900 employees, only about 25-30 show up for monthly meetings. Organizers tried different strategies to increase participation, but without any success. This may not be the case everywhere, but I seriously doubt if many book clubs see their membership grow significantly over time.
Amazon, which started as a platform to sell books, still sells plenty of them, as do many other companies. Yet, with the rise of social media, infinite scrolling, and an ever-growing number of online creators, more people are hooked to the instant gratification of videos rather than the slow, deep world of books.
I must admit, I too consume a lot of online videos on politics, travel, technology, interviews, movies, long and short clips of different kinds. But after moving to new home recently, I thought of subscribing to a few print magazines. Electronic formats save paper and environmentally friendly; but reading a magazine end to end on web is not same as reading a printed copy. Sites like Audiable are great too, but I often find myself forgetting the beginning by the time I reach the end. This may not be the case for everyone, but it is for me.
So, I finally subscribed to Mathrubhumi daily newspaper and its weekly magazine; also India Today, Caravan, and a couple of others. Last week, Mathrubhumi Weekly arrived with its Onam supplement, and I’ve been reading both in my free time. To my own surprise, my screen time has dropped significantly, and I now find myself turning more pages under the balcony light at midnight than staring at a mobile screen.
I don’t know if this phase will pass and I’ll drift back to binge-watching Netflix, Jio Hotstar or Amazon Prime. But for now, I’m trying to be more selective about online content and hoping to increase (or at least maintain) my current level of reading printed books and magazines.
Sajeev