This also makes sense. Like public libraries in india are solely spaces for children prepping for an exam. And which i experienced because i tried to go there to read browse since buying books is expensive and boy did i feel out of place. The funny thing is, we are letting the market fuel our needs for this. And what market often caters to is those with access only. I noticed this trend in libraries because there are now several private libraries cum coffee shops. Which i like but at the same time i dont feel like its the right direction.
The places where exam preparation happens are named libraries. I am familiar with them. They are less libraries and more prep centres.
Further, books being expensive, books worth reading are slowly disappearing as well. In the west, you can count on your public Library to stock atleast one copy of that old, out of print classic. Here, you cannot even purchase such books online anymore.C
Example in point, Thomas Pynchon (arguably the greatest post modernist alive) released a new novel at 86 years of age last year. It took over a month for the book to even be available in India. Meanwhile Bhagat's novel has been flooding the bookstores since releasing.
Absolutely true. Building Public Libraries is a part of CSR activities but how many ppl do we really see taking that initiative? Coming from Tier 2 city I have only imagined my city to have a clean quiet and safe library.
A lot of “India reads differently” is also: India reads in ways that don’t enter respectable metrics. Second-hand stalls, photocopied pages, pirated PDFs, Telegram groups, WhatsApp forwards of essays, borrowed books that change hands ten times. Publishing statistics are always going to look “small” if the country’s reading ecosystem is partly informal
Love this article. Every question you raised, every observation is so accurate. India reads differently, strategically. As a Hindu born in Kanpur in an upper caste but poor family, I saw how reading strategically was interwoven with whatever we wanted in our lives. From Ramayana, Bhagvad Gita, Satyanarayan ki Katha booklet, all the chalisa booklets, then Geeta Gorakhpur books, they all were basically books, but they came with their purposes. And memorising shlokas, dohas, chaupayi, everything came with a moral superiority. It was a different matter that same superior authority was used to demean women, lower caste people and "polluted religion" people. Now those books of "gyan" convert into guidebooks, textbooks, and as you mentioned, Chanakya neeti and all those books. We cannot help but read strategically, with utility. It has become an inherited habit I guess. As imagined by western pop culture, we cannot read a pulp fiction in our bath tubs. Even if someone does, someone will come up and ask, "Kya seekha?"
Well written. India also has "second-hand" book stores, pirated prints, and finds access to free epubs. These never come up in the sales numbers. India's reading culture, whether it is for pleasure or progress cannot be quantified yet.
The clickbait Guardian article obviously overlooks the fact that we do not have a proper public library system that exists in the UK , US and elsewhere. We pay for the books we read as we do for healthcare. So spending thousands every year on books is not a priority. Despite this the fact that literature festivals are so well attended and bookstores multiply atleast in urban centers shows there’s no lack of appetite for books. Great article .
Despite years of using English in education,workplace reading English novels, I feel I still read Hindi faster only because I was in the habit of pouring over Hindi newspapers and magazines and comics from childhood. It's a pity that the article missed all of these points you highlighted that also constitute Indian reading culture- Deekshabhoomi, roadside/railway stalls and the daily habit of reading a physical newspaper.
This is so well written! You're right about it. Reading has always been associated with the act of achieving something. Reading for leisure, even more as an adult is a lost art but screens have replaced reading. Many reading circles still do exist. And one needs to look beyond one's class and privilege.
I think the generalisation is not good for anything but creating a media hype. Growing up in India I used to read dozens of books every month over and above what the school books were. Yes libraries are fewer but the book stores are plenty and always there
Ofcourse people dont read for pleasure in India... As Manu Joseph put it, rest of India (other than South Bombay) is concerned with something annoying like essentiality. Under this regime, they are going hammer and tongs against any kind of proleterian intellectualism, while liberal bourgeoisie can circle jerk amongst themselves so long as they dont make sense to the man on the street.
Glad to read this. I was almost beginning to write a rejoinder to those outraged posts on insta. How limited their vision and awareness is, to take offense at a rather plebian, average sa article that in my view has nothing offensive, and actually is on point, even if based on limited field exposure to just one lit fest.
This post highlights the mentality that wraps around average indian mind. My parents used to frequently lament that if I spent my time reading for exams as I do for novels, I would secure a high paying government job. They just couldn’t understand why I would spend hours reading fiction.
Reading this essay, and the comments reminds me that I come from privilege. No, we weren’t wealthy, but my parents loved to read; I grew up with stacks of books all around me. On weekends, my dad took me all the way to town to the British Council library and let me choose the books I wanted to read.
Also shrinking public libraries. That raises the question, what does India do for pleasure?
This also makes sense. Like public libraries in india are solely spaces for children prepping for an exam. And which i experienced because i tried to go there to read browse since buying books is expensive and boy did i feel out of place. The funny thing is, we are letting the market fuel our needs for this. And what market often caters to is those with access only. I noticed this trend in libraries because there are now several private libraries cum coffee shops. Which i like but at the same time i dont feel like its the right direction.
The places where exam preparation happens are named libraries. I am familiar with them. They are less libraries and more prep centres.
Further, books being expensive, books worth reading are slowly disappearing as well. In the west, you can count on your public Library to stock atleast one copy of that old, out of print classic. Here, you cannot even purchase such books online anymore.C
Example in point, Thomas Pynchon (arguably the greatest post modernist alive) released a new novel at 86 years of age last year. It took over a month for the book to even be available in India. Meanwhile Bhagat's novel has been flooding the bookstores since releasing.
Btw Pynchon is also the author of Vineland, the source material for One Battle After Another, the move that blew Anurag mind per his podcast.
Absolutely true. Building Public Libraries is a part of CSR activities but how many ppl do we really see taking that initiative? Coming from Tier 2 city I have only imagined my city to have a clean quiet and safe library.
A lot of “India reads differently” is also: India reads in ways that don’t enter respectable metrics. Second-hand stalls, photocopied pages, pirated PDFs, Telegram groups, WhatsApp forwards of essays, borrowed books that change hands ten times. Publishing statistics are always going to look “small” if the country’s reading ecosystem is partly informal
Yes the piracy factor don’t reflect the actual reading metrics
Love this article. Every question you raised, every observation is so accurate. India reads differently, strategically. As a Hindu born in Kanpur in an upper caste but poor family, I saw how reading strategically was interwoven with whatever we wanted in our lives. From Ramayana, Bhagvad Gita, Satyanarayan ki Katha booklet, all the chalisa booklets, then Geeta Gorakhpur books, they all were basically books, but they came with their purposes. And memorising shlokas, dohas, chaupayi, everything came with a moral superiority. It was a different matter that same superior authority was used to demean women, lower caste people and "polluted religion" people. Now those books of "gyan" convert into guidebooks, textbooks, and as you mentioned, Chanakya neeti and all those books. We cannot help but read strategically, with utility. It has become an inherited habit I guess. As imagined by western pop culture, we cannot read a pulp fiction in our bath tubs. Even if someone does, someone will come up and ask, "Kya seekha?"
Well written. India also has "second-hand" book stores, pirated prints, and finds access to free epubs. These never come up in the sales numbers. India's reading culture, whether it is for pleasure or progress cannot be quantified yet.
💯
The clickbait Guardian article obviously overlooks the fact that we do not have a proper public library system that exists in the UK , US and elsewhere. We pay for the books we read as we do for healthcare. So spending thousands every year on books is not a priority. Despite this the fact that literature festivals are so well attended and bookstores multiply atleast in urban centers shows there’s no lack of appetite for books. Great article .
Despite years of using English in education,workplace reading English novels, I feel I still read Hindi faster only because I was in the habit of pouring over Hindi newspapers and magazines and comics from childhood. It's a pity that the article missed all of these points you highlighted that also constitute Indian reading culture- Deekshabhoomi, roadside/railway stalls and the daily habit of reading a physical newspaper.
This is so well written! You're right about it. Reading has always been associated with the act of achieving something. Reading for leisure, even more as an adult is a lost art but screens have replaced reading. Many reading circles still do exist. And one needs to look beyond one's class and privilege.
i read this article for pleasure
I also wonder if the premise is slightly inverted. People do read, but often for utility rather than immersion.
I think the generalisation is not good for anything but creating a media hype. Growing up in India I used to read dozens of books every month over and above what the school books were. Yes libraries are fewer but the book stores are plenty and always there
Very insightful article♥️
Ofcourse people dont read for pleasure in India... As Manu Joseph put it, rest of India (other than South Bombay) is concerned with something annoying like essentiality. Under this regime, they are going hammer and tongs against any kind of proleterian intellectualism, while liberal bourgeoisie can circle jerk amongst themselves so long as they dont make sense to the man on the street.
Very thought-provoking.
Books at Shivaji Park around December 6th: https://open.substack.com/pub/mumbaipaused/p/reading-and-the-city-why-do-we-travel?r=1vc2p&utm_medium=ios
Glad to read this. I was almost beginning to write a rejoinder to those outraged posts on insta. How limited their vision and awareness is, to take offense at a rather plebian, average sa article that in my view has nothing offensive, and actually is on point, even if based on limited field exposure to just one lit fest.
This post highlights the mentality that wraps around average indian mind. My parents used to frequently lament that if I spent my time reading for exams as I do for novels, I would secure a high paying government job. They just couldn’t understand why I would spend hours reading fiction.
Reading this essay, and the comments reminds me that I come from privilege. No, we weren’t wealthy, but my parents loved to read; I grew up with stacks of books all around me. On weekends, my dad took me all the way to town to the British Council library and let me choose the books I wanted to read.