What are you reading these days?

Niranjan Rajadhyaksha writes in the Mint Lounge about the Fate of Public Libraries in India, how they are dying a slow death (Read here http://www.livemint.com/2012/07/13214936/Libraries-a-reminder-of-how-l.html)

I have been a Librarytard. Though the last time I visited any library was about 10 years ago if not earlier. The reason being, there aren’t any public libraries around where we live. The only Public Libraries that I am aware of, in Mumbai, are the British Council and the Asiatic Library. I have been a member of the former in the past; have never had a chance to explore the latter. I am now part of a book club called Librarywala, cataloged online, have borrowed two books in the last one year, never returned them.

A poor substitute to not having a large public library around, has been buying books oneself. It is an expensive hobby to cultivate and when space is at a constraint it can make your room look ugly too. Ask me. I feel guilty often about buying a lot of books, stocking them in an unappealing manner in shelves that are groaning and never finding the time to read them. Confession time: I have read only 20% of the books that I have bought. The rest lie there waiting, like expectant brides waiting for the baraat to arrive.

 Niranjan’s article provides me with some hope and assuages my guilt. He quotes Nicholas Nissim Taleb, the bohemian author of Black Swan (mostly unread, lowest shelf rung). Taleb says “They (unread books) are an ever present reminder of how much one still does not know” Brilliant. It couldn’t be truer in my case. When I see my bookshelf sit there stoic, dust prone, unkempt and disorganized I feel a certain sense of incompleteness too, which until now was hidden under a more overt sense of guilt at having not read most of them. Tharoor, Ramchandra Guha, Jared Diamond, Bruce Riedel, Nehru, Arun Shourie, English classics, motley themes, it’s been a run riot on purchases. Blame it on the liberal economy, a piece of plastic and flipkart.

My father keeps telling me about reading and re-reading books. I nod, thinking within “If only the first time were easy”. What he also means is the need to engage and not just read. A book can be a medium for a dialogue between you and the author. It is like aligning two frames of mind, trying to fit them together like a jigsaw puzzle or trying to find a window to peep into the author’s mind and then introspect into your own.  Libraries provide a reason, a space and often the silence to do this.

So whether at home or in a public library books are a sign of progressive thought, a work in progress, and a desired state vs. a current state in terms of knowledge. As individuals progress page by page, society moves ahead step by step.