Bring back reading habit to the society, urges Adoor

At a seminar on Public Libraries, eminent director Adoor Gopalakrishnan urged the society to take up the reading habit as it will improve the thinking process in the minds of the people. A file photo: C. Ratheesh Kumar.

The renowned film director Adoor Gopalakrishnan has urged the Kerala State Library Council and the library movement in the State "to bring back the reading habit into the minds of the people for a thinking new generation and their bright future."

Inaugurating the national seminar on ‘Changing dimension of public libraries’ organized by Kerala State Library Council at Town Hall here on Wednesday the ace film director has said that "for a knowledgeable new generation they should be taught about the need for reading books of great literary works. But now even the parents are not advising children to read books to know about its vast treasure house of knowledge."

"Most of the people are now watching sub standard TV serials. These serials make the viewers just as consumers. This situation will kill the human ability of thinking. But the reading of books gives a totally different experience. The exchange of views after reading a literary work will not be available from seeing a serial episode in a mini screen,” Mr. Gopalakrishnan said.

He said that now "even the educated sections of the society are loosing their thanking power by seeing the pulp serials in mini screens. Such serials can create only consumers but not the thinking class of people. This is what the consumer corporate world wanted for whom consumerism is the only aim and objective. By going away from the reading habit one's thinking power gets lost. Thus people loose the great opportunity of learning to grow.”

Mr. Gopalakrishnan has said that most of the TV serials are penned by those who have very little experience about life and society. Thus it has become a social danger, he said.

Mr. Gopalakrishnan has said that though reading habit has come down "it cannot be said that reading has died. There are good books published by some of the major publishers. They are selling books in large numbers and are also making profit and expanding their business."

The meeting was presided over by Council President P.K. Harikumar. It was addressed by District Panchayat President T.N. Khandamuthan, Organising Committee convernor P.K. Sudhakaran, State Librarby Council member K.A. Viswanathan among others.