Department of English
Unity College, Dimapur
“Time spent reading is time invested”
When a book is bought, it is meant to be read because the value of a book is known by the number of readers it has. A book loses its essence when there are null readers and the existence of the book becomes a mere creation.
An individual inculcating the convention of reading has a better grip on vocabulary which is vital when it comes to writing. A quality reader is also a better writer because the feeling of the mind can be expressed with better words and jargons. This trait of reading also enhances one’s speaking ability since a person tend to speak better with power and conviction, the confidence that emits from a buoyant speaker is because of all the reading time invested. The art of reading enriches pronunciation, the more one spent time reading, the diction on point accompanied by less errors. A person who sincerely reads is less ignorant and hence the saying, “kill ignorance not grammar with reading as the weapon.”
Reading also expands the propensity to write better. The more reading is done, the more it helps in remembering, the mind is receptive in storing the things read. It also sharpens the memory, saving the already stored sources for a longer duration. We have achievers from different domain like Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Mark Cuban, Warren Buffet who were all avid loyal readers, they were busy people, but took time out to read. Bill Gates read about 50 books per year, Elon Musk when asked on his building rockets he replied, “ I read books.”
An inveterate reader can knock out a well educated man and be made to look like a fool. Following a conversation with the former, the latter might start questioning the whole system of formal education. The system is not to be blamed; it is simply not designed to compete with a “comprehensive soul”. A well read mind is a well fed mind, freed from the clutches of this materialistic madness, exemplifying completeness in mind and spirit, as in the words of Francis Bacon “ reading maketh a full man.”
Technology has definitely made life easier, with easy access to information. And it’s no surprise that most people find the internet more interesting than books. It would be a big mistake however, if we were to think that books can be replaced by the internet. Recent studies have confined that we tend to comprehend less and read slow when reading on screen than on paper. A survey held in 2014 by ‘ Tata Literature Live’ found that readers in India favoured printed books over electronic reading. Mumbai topped with 80% opting for the printed word. This was followed by Delhi (79%), Kolkata (78%), Bangalore (77%) and Chennai (76%). Internet rightly deserves its place in modern society, but it should not be considered as a substitute for books. George R. R. Martin, author of the “Game of Thrones” once wrote, “ A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies……the man who never reads lives only one.”
A person who does not read somehow misses out something spectacular in life; reading should be a priority and not a duty. The joy of reading should be one of the fundamental rights, but it all begins when we start respecting the thoughts of a person who has chosen to pen down its mind in the form of words and expression.
A reading mind is never idle and puts the devil back to sleep.
