Books!
Who doesn’t love them? We all grew up reading something, be it
an A for apple, encyclopaedias, Nancy Drew mysteries, or your boring history
text books… every tiny bit we read gives us some knowledge.
The entire feeling of reading books takes
you to another land. And it’s just not the texts, but the touch of those rough
and smooth pages, the smell of the musty covers and colourful bookmarks through
those pages. The world is although advanced now and most love looking at a
screen than the pages; well nothing is so wrong in that, after all you’re
reading! And that is what’s fantastic.
We have come across great and brilliant
authors and writer who have touched our every nerve while we read their books.
Thus, April 23 has been nominated by UNESCO as as World Book Day- an occasion
to celebrate books as well as reading all over the world. Globally we most
recently celebrated it as a mark of respect to the most famous author of all
time Miguel de Cervantes. In fact this day is also the birth and death
anniversaries of, Vladimir Nabokov, Manuel Mejía Vallejo and our famous William
Shakespeare. The aim of this day is to provide every child and the youngsters
with their own book. The theme for this year was ‘Share a Story’.
ERICA LAWRENCE, Student Don Bosco College
“I started reading books at an early age when I was in grade
4and my genre is mostly thriller and mysteries. I would debate with anyone that
reading a book is better than an ebook. Book is a book and we cannot debate
that. Although those who read online should be careful of their eyesight, too
long can cause pigmentation and bad eye sight. But I guess sometimes for them
it’s affordable than buying an expensive book. The recent book which I read was
the ‘Girl in Room 105’ by Chetan Bhagat.”
ALFI SILVEIRA, Radio Jockey, Photographer
“The important thing is reading; it doesn’t matter if it is an e
book or a paperback. Ebooks are convenient and saves paper therefore it is more
preferred, so it’s ok. However, I believe that the books that are already
published should be kept in libraries and passed around to be read but the
books that are yet to be published should be produced in the form of e books.
Reading is important because it encourages creativity and increases one’s
vocabulary. For every nice books of fiction that I read, I read one non-fiction
book. Non-fiction teaches us about people and life and likewise both are good;
fiction and nonfiction”
PRISCILLA DORRIS JANARTHANAN, Hairstylist
Reading is a very important thing; no matter what you read you
learn something. I always taught my daughter that. Even I read, in fact I loved
reading except now I don’t have the time. When I used to read a lot of books,
my daughter learnt through me… and she too started sitting with a book. I
often read secret seven and famous five as a teen, but now my taste has
changed, I read books like ‘The Secret’, ‘Chicken Soup for Human Soul’ series
and so on… they have helped me at different times in life. I still have some
of my collection lying around and my daughter must have read it, I kept them
for her.
ALANISS BARBOSA, Student Don Bosco College
“I was introduced to reading by my grandmother. The first book
my grandmother gave me was of Sydney Sheldon and she was the one because of
whom I started reading in the first place. I like reading mystery or thriller,
usually fiction. I prefer to read a book because online reading strains my eyes
and then you have the problem of your phone or your tab dying out and you can’t
roam with the charger everywhere, but with a book you can sit anywhere. The
recent novel which I read is ‘The Hidden Years’ which is a fiction novel and
the thing I like about the book is the compassion that was shown through the
book and the struggles of a woman during war time.”
IVO GONSALVES,
Social Service worker
“It was out of self interest that I started reading. I know
mostly people go for fiction but sometimes nonfiction gives you a whole
different insight. The recent book that I read was on counselling written by
Dr. Vikram Patel; it is a training book for counselling and has interesting
facts. The book taught me about various skills and techniques used in
counselling. I had attended an exhibition of a NGO called Sangat and that is
how I picked up the book as it was a part of my syllabus. At first I thought it
would be boring but honestly this is so beautifully written.”
VALONIA MEDEIRA, Student Carmel College
“I started reading in college when I had pursued English
literature so I had to read. For me reading improves my English, it gives us
more information about what is happening and how the stories can change which
is why it is interesting and fun to read. I prefer fiction novels and would
rather read an actual book than an ebook; because it simply feels nice to read
it in print instead of phone flickering and all. The last book which I read was
the Merchant of Venice. I like the book because Shakespeare is the greatest
writer of all times and the way he writes stories are interesting. I also read
many other books but fiction is my preference actually many youngsters love
fiction because it takes through your vivid imagination”
WINIFRED NORRIS, Musician
“Besides singing and all, I fell in love with reading when I
used to read tinkle as a kid. My school too would prescribe various other
novels to read and that is how I gained interest in reading books. Now that
I’ve grown up I like reading novels and comics that have something to do with
mystery. I still have many comic books at home that sometimes I have a glance
at. Oh how I enjoyed Suppandi! Currently I am reading a book called Time of my
Life.”
SAAVI NATEKAR, Artist
“Apart
from my artistic skills I like to read anything that is interesting, usually
fiction. I would prefer anywhere…reading online or in a library, but I would
purchase the book only if I love the writer or the book. I started reading
books from grade three when I became the member of central library and through
my own interest I started reading. As much as I love sketching, reading to play
a major role in my life. The recent book that I have read is ‘After You’ which
is a series of ‘Me before You’.”
