“Certainly the internet has taken over youngsters today. Whether it is a simple school assignment or a last minute revision a night before the exam, children these days depend heavily on the internet. The fact, however, is that information offered by the internet will only give you surface level knowledge on subjects. For in-depth knowledge, it is only the humble books which will come to your rescue on any day.” So has the coming in of the internet affected the number of readers? “Not at all! In fact, there has been a steady increase in sales of books over the ages. Bangalore, especially, is full of stores which exclusively sell books only. We have Sapna Book House, Gangarams and many more such places which cater to selling books of various genres and are undoubtedly doing great business”, he replies.So will books ultimately win the war against the emerging technologies? “To be frank, technology and books go hand-in-hand. E-books, for instance, encourage reading habits among the busy tech-savvy people who might not find time to purchase a book from a shop. Plus, it has an added advantage of making sale and purchase more convenient”, replies Balram Sadhwani. So what can be done to propagate the habit of reading among young children? “Well, organising book fairs and book exhibitions is a brilliant way of propagating the value of books among youngsters. The Bangalore Book Fair 2011 organised by us at the Palace Grounds, this year has a wide variety of books for people of all ages. A person who even wanders into a big fair like this is bound to pick a book or two at the end of the day”, he replied.
Comments
0 comment