Reading now divorced from pleasure: Shashi Tharoor

Abu Dhabi - He drew a comparison between the budget allocation of the UAE and India to education sector.

Indian politician and author Shashi Tharoor hailed the initiatives taken by the UAE government to promote reading and said the country is leading the way for others to follow.
"Habits of reading have sadly declined around the world. I congratulate the UAE government for its initiative of declaring the Year of Reading," he said while delivering a key note speech during 'Read Today, Lead Tomorrow' event held by Creative Education Services and Muslim Educational Society at the Indian Social and Cultural Centre on Sunday.
The event, held under the patronage of Ministry of Finance, is in support of the Year of Reading initiative.
He drew a comparison between the budget allocation of the UAE and India to education sector.
"The UAE government has this year allocated 23 per cent of the budget to education. India spends 3.6 per cent. I am struck by this remarkable figure," he said.
Tharoor said very often the adventure of reading can begin with a single book. He narrated his thrust with books during his childhood. "I started at a young age. My generation was the last generation which had no other distractions - no Nintendo or smartphones or even computers. On top of that I was an asthmatic child and was confined to bed and to distract my mind the only option was to read.
"We have reached a sorry stage when a Year of Reading is needed to encourage children to read. This is because reading has been divorced from pleasure and we must make this connect very quickly. Now children don't associate reading with pleasure. They are told that reading a book is something done for passing exams. Reading book is something that opens door to all kind of treasure."
Reading, he said, isn't necessarily as solitary thing but a family one. "Reading can be a shared activity. It was something that families did when there were not many distractions. It should be incorporated as a family activity."
Tharoor said that he had read wrong thing too. "I was 12 years-old when I read pornography. My father didn't stop me but my uncle made an argument about it. On the whole, with my indiscriminate reading I learned the value of good writing as well as good reading. Human mind is like a parachute. It works only when kept open. We forget speeches, movies in days but when you read something it stays forever."
The message in his book
An Era of Darkness: The British Empire in India is a book on Indian experience of colonialism. There is a historical amnesia. I am only writing about India. They (British) came and conquered one of the richest countries in the world and reduced it to one of the poorest countries. How they did that is what the book explains. The various benefits of British rule - the railways, the English language, tea and cricket were all actually introduced to serve British and not for the benefit of Indians."
ashwani@khaleejtimes.com

• UAE