How many types of books are there? Philosopher Francis Bacon answered four centuries ago, “Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed and some few chewed and digested.”
During a visit to H-9 Sunday Bazaar, this scribe asked a complementary question as to how many types of readers there were. Saien Ditta, old books vendor, said: “Some read only if they have to, others read anything they can get hold of, yet others search for challenges.
Some like poetry while others enjoy non-fiction. Some readers start a book hesitantly until the writer casts a spell on them; others open books with great gusto, but abandon them after a few pages.
Ditta, 47, sitting on a bench inside his stalls D-502 & D-503, talked to Pakistan Today and said book reading habit, no doubt, was on the verge of decline because of rapidly integrated computer technology where anyone could access any time by spending a meager amount and, that too, without leaving their homes. “I have put up all sorts of books from Urdu and English literature to Persian, French, Italian, German and literature from all over the world. Besides, a wide range of course books from matriculation level to graduation, local and international magazines, cooking books, English novels and stationery, but unfortunately, the customers are few,” Ditta said.
There are around five old book stalls in H-9 Bazaar held under the banner of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) selling various sorts of literature books and academic books for students, but it was witnessed during the visit that only students who were preparing for their exams were frequently visiting these stalls and asking for guess papers, keys or guide books from the bookstall vendors.
I have been doing this business because of my romance for reading books for the last 15 years. “I get a strange sense of satisfaction while reading a book and this trait of mine pushed me establishing this business that I started from G-9 Sunday Bazaar and now shifted to H-9 Bazaar,” Ditta said. When asked why this habit of reading books is on the verge of decline, Ditta said in Pakistan it was never on the rise. “Centuries ago, there was no Internet facility in Europe, but the whole Europe experienced the intellectual revolution when philosophers and intellectuals brought prosperity to their respective countries,” he said, adding he had access to modern technology, but still he took more pleasure reading books instead of browsing on using Internet.
Another reason for the downfall of reading books is that everyone has become selective. “Students just pick books to read, get good grades and, later, find a good job, but anyone hardly buys literature books to enhance his knowledge,” Ditta lamented, saying education was common these days, but knowledge was rare.
To a question, Ditta said the fundamental reasons for decrease in book lovers were the ongoing inflation and lack of interest. Quoting an incident, he said a girl was interested in getting a book, but her mother took her to an adjacent food stall where they both had cold drinks and snacks,” Ditta said and added 90 percent of his customers were students while just 10 percent visited his stall for literature books, novels, magazines or cooking books.
“I am doing a government job as well and purchase books from Lahore and other big book stalls at low rates and offer my customers at 50 percent or even less than 50 percent discount, but still they are reluctant to buy books, saying price was not affordable. “I used to sell a good bulk of books a month ago, but now I only manage to sell just a few in a day,” he said.
Pakistan Today, however, found that a few dedicated patrons of these shops still existed. Mahwish, a housewife, while purchasing a couple of Urdu novels, said she had been a vivacious reader since her childhood. “Books have everything to give me a guideline of settling domestic issues, nurturing kids and keeping a balance between home and outside affairs,” Mehwish said, adding reading Urdu Digest guided her to understand the child psychology. Another English novel lover, Lalarukh Farooq, said. “I can have some unique books from old book stalls.
A study carried out by the University of California at San Diego found out that the people in the US were consuming more words on an average now than in the 1980s. But this was mainly due to increase in online activities, including face-booking, tweeting and blogging. Pakistan has an Internet penetration of about 10.6 percent (the second highest in South Asia after The Maldives), according to Internet World Stats, and PTA expects it to rise rapidly in the coming years.
Book reading habit on the verge of collapse
