Like in Nagesh Kukunoor’s ‘3 Deewarein’ three independent incidences took place with me in the recent past, which were meant to be linked by the end. That’s the only part in common with 3 Deewarein; the plot and the story in my case were completely different.
- I gifted one of my favorite books to a friend in the office because I knew she loved reading and I also knew she wrote equally great. I just attempted to encourage her to start writing book reviews because she read a lot of books and she could write much better than what I attempt here on this blog. (Not to mention my selfish intentions; they’re out of the scope of this article.)
- My cousins and less-brother-in-law-more-a-friend happened to visit Pune for a weekend around the same time. One of the most fun-filled weekends, I didn’t know there were so many hours in a day and there was always so much we could do. Anyway. We had fun. I realized both of my cousins were too much into reading, and just like how I used to be, my brother-in-law found it tough to read more than a couple of pages of any book. I recommended to him one of the most interesting books (Indian fiction) I had ever read, with a very strong endorsement to give it a try. The last I know, he had read much more than two pages in that book. No rush, but I really hope he completes the novel someday – it’s really interesting.
- Earlier this month, during one of the greatest vacations of my life, I was at home sitting with my father on an early monsoon morning sipping some great tea. I happened to come across a title 'વાંચે ગુજરાત' (Vanche Gujarat) in a Gujarati daily, and it turned out to be a much bigger deal than I thought. My father explained how the Government of Gujarat had taken up this ‘movement’ of motivating people to read more, and how there were different programs proposed to make people of Gujarat grow this habit of reading. Some of these included buying, gifting, and passing books to others!
Apparently, these silent incidences in my life happen to be a coincidental reflection of a full-fledged program by the Government of Gujarat – Vanche Gujarat. Making it a part of ‘સ્વર્ણિમ ગુજરાત મહોત્સવ’ (Golden Jubilee Celebrations), the Government has just not contributed but also been greatly interested, involved and invested in this initiative. The mission (as the Chief Minister likes to call it) is to reach out to the people, to educate them that books are the ultimate way out from this unfortunate stature of robotic lifestyle. With ‘Information’ rapidly replacing ‘Knowledge’, only knowledge can lead us to light!
Explore the Vanche Gujarat official website for more if you feel like it – the message is simple: Read books. It’s a good thing.
Image source: kidscloset.biz