Monday, 02 May 2022 | Dr BKS Sanjay & Dr Gaurav Sanjay
GUEST COLUMN
As every year, the World Book Day was recently celebrated on April 23. This occasion was declared by UNESCO to attract the attention of people all over the world. There are many stories behind the celebration of World Book Day. For the first time in the year 1923, the date of April 23- World Book Day and the relationship between books was established by various book sellers in Spain to pay tribute to the famous author Miguel de Cervantes. This day is also his death anniversary.
World Book and Copyright Day is specially celebrated by teachers, authors, publishers, librarians, all private and government educational institutions, NGOs, working people’s groups, mass media etc.
Change is a universal law. We believe if there is a need to bring change in the individual, society and country then there is a need to change the thoughts to bring any change. It is written in our scriptures that “Vicharh Param Gyanam, Gyanam Param Balam” which means that thought is the ultimate knowledge and knowledge is the greatest power. BR Ambedkar had said that just as a plant needs water, similarly an idea needs propagation or else both die. Books are a good, cheap and permanent medium for propagation of any idea.
Books are running our entire social eco – system whether Manusmriti, Gita or Ramayana in the past or the Constitution of our nation in the modern era. Books are the source of prosperity of any nation.
Thousands of years ago, the right to teach belonged to the Guru. Due to which the spread and dissemination of knowledge was limited. You must have read and heard the parable of Guru Dronacharya who refused to give education to Karna and Eklavya. Today, anyone can get knowledge and progress to the highest level with their passion to study, as is the example of today’s Super 30’s manager Anand Kumar.
Books are such friends that whenever you want them with you, they are with you and fulfill their full duty and responsibility. There is no constraint like time and circumstance with books. Books are not only our friends, but they act as teachers, gurus and guides to all of us.
The books are the treasure for the future generation. Selection of the books for reading is an important aspect. The habit of reading is done by the readers but selection of the books for reading is done either by parents or by teachers particularly in younger children and teenagers.
Children who have the habit of reading books from childhood progress in their respective fields because their books and teachers contribute to shaping their life. We are orthopaedic surgeons and have made it a habit that before every operation, we read the book about that operation, from which we learn something new every time and we feel that in this way not only the quality of the operation improves but so does the patient’s clinical outcome.
The importance of education and books was understood by many of our wise men, politicians and many enlightened people of the society. The main architect of Indian constitution Ambedkar understood the importance of education and gave its due importance in the framework of the constitution. One of his three basic mantras is to be educated.
Writers die but their books remain immortal like our books Ramayana, Gita, Quran, Bible, Guru Granth Sahib, Agam and Pitik etc. When we read a book, it seems that we are having a personal connection with the author and this feeling is what makes the authors immortal.
Books are not only to be bought and be kept in the book shelf but should be read on a daily basis. A survey revealed that the television is watched by people in general for 35-45 hours in a week which is almost equal to the working hours and people pretend that they don’t have the time to read a book.
Hardly anyone will deny that the habit of reading books is not a new one, rather we all have this habit since childhood. Perhaps those who could not make this habit in childhood could not reach new heights in their careers like those of their peers who were avid readers. In our opinion, we should not make the habit of reading books only, but make it a habit of reading good books.
Groucho Marx said that a book is a man’s best friend, apart from a dog.We think book offering would be the cheapest and best durable gift, especially on the occasion of birthday.
Reading a book costing a few hundred rupees brings a big change in people’s life. The texts in Ramayana, Gita, Quran and Bible not only change people’s thoughts but also change the way they live. We are seeing this not just now, but for centuries in the past.The religious books have been shaping the humanity for centuries and the constitution of countries recently.
(Padma Shri recipient Dr BKS Sanjay is a senior orthopaedic surgeon, Dr Gaurav Sanjay is an orthopaedic surgeon. Views expressed are personal)
