Address At The Inauguration Of Eleventh Delhi Book Fair, Pragati Maidan, New Delhi

Celebrate the Book, the Author and the Reader

I am delighted to participate in the inauguration of Eleventh Delhi Book Fair organized by the India Trade Promotion Organisation in collaboration with the Federation of Indian Publishers. My greetings to the authors of the books, publishers, book lovers, distinguished members and the organizers. I would like to extend my special greetings to the publishers participating from Germany, France, UK and other European Union countries, Iran, Pakistan and USA in this book fair. I was thinking what thoughts I can share with you during this important occasion. I have selected the topic ?Celebrate the book, the author and the Reader?.

Books are our companions

Coming into contact with a good book and possessing it, is indeed an everlasting enrichment of life. Book becomes a permanent companion. Sometimes, they are born before us; they guide us during our life journey and continue for many generations. I had bought a book titled ?Light from many lamps? in the year 1953 from an old book store in Moore Market, Chennai. The editor of this book is ?Watson, Lillian Eichler?. This book was my close friend and also companion for more than five decades. The book was so much used; it had to be bound many times. Whenever there is a problem, the book wipes away the tears based on the experience of great minds. When the happiness overwhelms you, the book again softly touches the mind and brings about a balanced thinking. I have realized the importance of the book again, when a friend of mine who is in the judiciary presented me with the new edition of the same book in the year 2004. He told me the best thing he can give me was this book. May be fifty years from now the same book may take a new avatar. Basically books are eternal.

My favourite Books

Quite often I get e-mails, letters and questions from the youth whom I meet on my visits to various parts of the country. The overwhelming questions from them are:

1. Which are the books that are your real companions?

2. What is the book that you are reading currently?

I have told them that I cherish reading almost all the books. The once that are enjoyed most are: ?Man the Unknown? by Dr. Alexis Carrel, a doctor-turned-philosopher and a Nobel Laureate. This book highlights how the mind and body have both to be treated in an ailment as the two are integrated. You cannot treat one and ignore the other. In particular, children who dream of becoming doctors should read this book. They will learn that the human body is not a mechanical system; it is a very intelligent organism with a most intricate and sensitive feedback system. The human system is indeed an integrated life package made of psychological and physiological systems. The second book which I venerate is Thiruvalluvar?s ?Thirukkural?, which provides an excellent code of conduct for life and the author?s thinking beyond a nation, beyond languages, beyond religion, and beyond culture indeed elevates the human mind. The third is Light from Many Lamps, the importance of which I have already shared with you. Of course there are many other books I love.

As many of you may know, many illustrious authors visit me at the Rashtrapati Bhavan and share their knowledge and experiences of writing the books. The two books currently engaging me are ?VISIONS? by Michio Kaku; which takes us to the wonderful world of science and tells us how science will revolutionize the 21st century; ?Voyage through time? by Ahmed Zewail, a well known Nobel Laureate and the friend of India about his journey in life and Nobel Prize. One takes you through the world of imagination and the other to the world of reality.

Role of Authors in Human Lives

Many of you here in this audience, might have similar experience with a particular book or books. Authors of the books play a very important role in human lives. A good book from an author is a great knowledge and wealth for many generations. Some times a book may not inspire the reader during the author?s life time. But importance of the book?s message becomes more and more clear as the time passes and its value is realized by the society. Then the book starts shining. Of course there are some classics which shine continuously for many generations. Authors and publishers have to realize that they, in an integrated way are responsible in making the book and the knowledge reach the society and people.

Holy Geometry Book

Here I would like to refer an incident in the life of Albert Einstein. At the age of 12, he experienced a wonder in a little book given by his mentor Max Talmud with Euclidean plain Geometry which he called ?Holy Geometry Book?. Einstein calls this as a miracle. Through this book, Einstein made contact with the realm of pure thought. Without expensive laboratories or equipment, he could explore universal truth, limited only by the power of human mind. Mathematics became an endless source of pleasure to Einstein especially if intriguing puzzle and mysteries were involved.

Access to Books

Let me discuss about the access to books. When the society is bombarded from multiple directions through electronic media, print media throughout the day and night, how the knowledge seeker can get the right type of book to enrich his mind. India has approximately 2.3 lakh Village Panchayats. I visualize establishment of village knowledge centers in these Panchayats to empower the villagers with the knowledge and to act as a nodal center for knowledge connectivity for the villagers. Initially 100 remote Panchayats may be chosen for the Model Pilot project. Based on this experience, it will be possible to replicate Village Panchayat Knowledge Centers in other Panchayats. This Center will be equipped with 1000 books of different subjects. In addition it will have a computer terminal, telephone connections, Modem, Printer, Photocopier, camera, Scanner, Internet connection and other support facilities for functioning as a digital library. The knowledge center will provide hard copies of relevant pages to the members of the village, if required. Also the center can have facility for reading the text with an audio output so that people, who are unable to read, can benefit from the library. The knowledge center can also be used for collection, digital storage and dissemination of village specific information pertaining to agriculture, craftsmanship, arts, artisan techniques, informal judicial system practiced in village based on values, local remedies for simple ailments, village stories with moral values, village history, village folk songs, village cultural traditions, traditional medicinal practices followed in villages and village marketing information and methods. Such information presently is being transmitted through word of mouth and with changing generation, it is being lost.

It is essential to preserve and carry forward this knowledge base for the benefit of future generations. This village Panchayat knowledge centers will become a helpdesk and confidence builder for the villagers. In course of time, there could be inter Panchayat information transfer leading to assured information flow to the needy. This Village Panchayat knowledge center will also act as an e-governance nodal point for the villagers.

By this action of the village knowledge centre, the book requirements will increase continuously, reading habits will multiply and above all, certain employment potential will also be generated for library management. Creation of village knowledge centres should become the focus of the rural development ministry.

The movement of ?Mobile Lending Library? particularly in urban and semi-urban areas will promote book reading habit at an affordable cost. This will become part and parcel of the urban development ministry. I have come across two models one in Chandigarh and the other in Virudhunagar, which attracts large number of readers, particularly the youth. The Chandigarh model called BROWSER envisages payment of graded membership fee and availability of large number of books for the member. The Virudhunagar model enables the student to draw comics, adventure, fiction, magic books at a small fee of 50 paisa per hour. This small fee forces the students to concentrate and read the material with speed. We need to expand these models to other village areas using the PURA concept. Let us connect the villages through a mobile lending library arm of a book store.

The mission and zeal of Publisher

I would like to share an experience about the book "India 2020 ? A Vision for the New Millennium" published by Penguin. It has been translated in many languages. Tamil publisher, particularly Shri Radhakrishnamurthy, M.D. of "New Century Book House"(NCBH), started liking the theme of the book of ?Realizing the developed India?. He decided to ensure that the book reaches the people from every walk of life in every part of the country. He said that he will market, minimum 100,000 books. He has achieved his mission by bringing one edition for the primary school children and another for senior high school students in addition to the paperback edition. Large demand and steady marketing through various retail networks and awareness campaign enabled him to bring down the price substantially. The publisher plays a very important role in making the book to reach the people. Shri. Radhakrishnamurthy who is past 80 now, is in the mission of reaching books and therefore knowledge to the people. He started his career at his childhood by selling the books carrying on his head. Many authors have told me how they chose the writing career because of him. Of course, readers love such a low cost option with variety. We need many such missionaries who will take Indian books in lakh and million to reach our people..

The Library at Rashtrapati Bhavan

The library at Rashtrapati Bhavan has an envious collection of many books that reflect the history of this country and also the taste and preferences of the rulers of India in the pre independent era. Presidents who adorned the Rashtrapati Bhavan had also added books to this unique collection. Our aim is to make the entire world share this collection. To achieve this we have embarked upon a programme to digitize the books at Rashtrapati Bhavan. So far we have digitized 7000 books totaling to about 5 million pages and would soon make them available on the Internet. I will be happy to invite the youth of the nation to spend a chosen day at Rashtrapati Bhavan Library.

Conclusion

Recently, I was reading a book written by Will Durant, ?The Greatest Minds and Ideas of all times?. One of the chapters deals with ?One hundred best books in the world?. I find there are books from Greek authors, Chinese authors, European authors and American Authors. Not even one single Indian book is found in the list. It is not that India did not have the authors of great minds but our books have not been positioned in right places. Indian books have to reach universities and great libraries of many countries. Some times, we have to start chairs in number of universities in the name of great authors and propagate their philosophy. The Government and publishers collectively should project the best books of India. Good books written by renowned authors should be translated and published in multiple languages.

I have few suggestions particularly for the parents and the teachers. You should encourage the children and the students with the following advice, ?Give one hour a day exclusively for book reading, you will become a knowledge centre in a few years.? For others, make it a habit to give books as gifts especially to the youth. These actions will enrich our youth and assist them in transforming our society into a knowledge society.

I declare the 11th Delhi Book Fair open and my best wishes to the authors and the publishers in their mission of making India into knowledge power.

May God bless you.