Knowledge is power: is what we have been taught right from the beginning. Hence, we have been striving hard to improve the balance in our knowledge bank. As if not enough with all the ocean of information that is available in books and in the rich experiences of our forefathers, today internet has emerged as the most easily accessible fund of knowledge.

Just go Google Search and type any word under the sun!  You will get pages and pages of links. The habit of reading printed material is slowly getting outdated, even amongst old-timers, let alone the youngsters of today, who can get any information even on their cellphone.

‘Literature’ is assuming newer meanings. There are innumerable sites which publish e-books. “What’s so different in reading a printed book?” ask the youngsters of today. They do not even know the pleasure of smelling fresh books, cutting open uncut edges and reading printed material in a cozy place or in the garden, with coffee and chips to add to the fun!

They would never have experienced the thrill in rummaging through old libraries either at home or outside and getting hold of some leather bound classics, with silver fish and dead cockroaches in between, smell of oldness, dust and naphthalene balls and names, addresses, notes and other markings made by some ancient readers with fountain pens in lovely coloured inks!

Internet has taken away all that fun. Of course, everything is easier today. But has it not taken away a very important part of human nature — that of patiently reading through thousands of pages, enjoying the language, presentation and information, emotionally getting bonded to the information, preserving the old books more for the memories they carried and passing on those sweet memories to the next generation?

In those days, we had to put in some efforts to get some information and so would rather not try to know certain things, until the necessity arose.

Is knowledge really strength? Maybe “yes” for optimists who will thank their stars for knowing something in advance and taking precautions to avoid further problems but “no” for pessimists, especially creatively thinking pessimists like me, who imagine all negative situations! Sometimes, ignorance is bliss.

The pleasure of walking down to a public library, going through rows and rows of books, finding some rare books, sitting in a silent corner with those books and engrossing ourselves in a different world for a few hours is simply not comparable to sitting in front a computer, clicking a button and reading just what we exactly want!

Though the publishing industry is still doing a good job and minting millions around the world, I wonder how many of the youngsters are taking the joy of reading hard copies of old classics! Even the contents of the languages taught in schools and colleges have undergone such a change, that the stress today is on “communication” and “commercial value of the language” rather than on the “standard”, “quality”, “literary values” and “simple pleasure of reading”.

After all people think language is meant for communication and it is just sufficient to learn that much of it! Sad!