Adity Choudhury
SHILLONG:
Throughout the early 2000s, book lovers from different demographic profiles thronged bookstores in Shillong. Friendly bets on who would finish reading first and discussions on whether books should be translated on the big screen were common.
The city boasted of a reading culture that seems to have considerably declined.
Bookstores like Akashi Book Depot, Ka Ibadasuk Book Agency and Kamala Book Agency, to name a few, have closed down due to a lack of readership.
This gives a glimpse of the changing scenario where reading a book is concerned.
Nicholaus Book House (NBH), Don Bosco, Laitumkhrah, started 15 years ago. They sell academic, general and books for the National Eligibility Test (NET).
Madan Prasad, the owner of the bookstore, credited the digital age, including the pandemic, for disrupting the reading culture of the city.
He said, “The digital age ushered in a fresh wave of reading ebooks, thanks to apps and Kindle. During the lockdown, students depended on online reading materials. This has wider ramifications.”
Aibor H Majaw, proprietor of the New Book Centre (NBC), Beat House, Laitumkhrah, has been in this trade for 30 years. They sell academic books.
Earlier, they sold magazines like Femina and Women’s Era, including books catering to competitive examinations – no longer ordered because of zero demand.
“We started out selling newspapers and magazines. People also read Sidney Sheldon and Mills and Boon romance novels,” Majaw stated, reiterating how the decline in light-reading points to reality.
Both Prasad and Majaw maintained that the semester system adopted by higher educational institutes has directly affected the habit of reading books.
Considering students purchase books semester-wise, there is not much exploration beyond the syllabus. It has lessened the burden on students, but the act of reading a book has become superficial now.
Chapala Book Stall (CBS), one of the oldest bookstores in the city and known for academic books, keeps detective novels and books by Paulo Coelho and Chetan Bhagat now, as they are still popular among the youth.
Buddhadeb Chaudhuri, the proprietor of CBS, blamed the ‘idiot box’ and social media for being agents of distraction, contributing to the short attention span of the youth. Academic pressure, especially in school, has also added to the disinterest.
Their move to a new location in Keating Road has further affected sales. Most people end up at their previous location near Jail Road, only to be reminded that the stall has shifted.
Our conversation steered to the present examination system and its effect on reading habits.
He said, “Earlier, there was a balance between objective and descriptive sections in the question paper. The latter involved thinking. Questions are now reduced to “Yes/No”. How will students analyse?”
Kshitindra Bhattacharjee, associated with CBS since 1965, lamented how people would read books in several languages, a scenario that has changed drastically.
He shared an interesting anecdote about how a post office was supposed to be opened in their previous building because of book orders that came from Assam.
“About 300-400 letters would pour in daily. Those were busy, yet happier times,” he stated, with a smile, adding how they (staff) talk to each other or read books now, given the free time at hand.
Ashok Kr Singh runs the City Book Centre (CBC) in GS Road and has been in this trade for 12 years.
They are the authorised dealer of NCERT books for CBSE and MBOSE. They sell reference books for NEET and JEE examinations and Bengali textbooks for Laitumkhrah Bengali School and Laban Bengali Girls School from grades one to five.
On the current reading culture of Shillong, he said, “Reading has shifted online partially. There is a craze for books in the rural areas of Meghalaya because of internet connectivity issues.”
Conversing with Sujit Singh of the National Book Agency (NBA) which sells both academic and general books, gave a different perspective. Current trends show a considerable decline in reading non-fiction, science fiction and biographies.
Children’s books are popular in his bookstore, which contradicts the perception of children being disinterested in books.
“Parents buy books to inculcate reading in children, but it has to be a sustained effort right from the school level,” he said.
His statement was in sync with an elderly gentleman named Apurba Dutta, who reminisced about his childhood days in Assam while browsing books in one bookstore.
“I remember how my teachers shaped my interest in books – Jibon Roy Bardhan of Doomdooma Bangiya Vidyalaya and Bhupendra Narayan Choudhury of Gordon Higher Secondary School, Nalbari. Both would take me to the respective school libraries, which opened up worlds. Choudhury would take me to the school during summer vacations on his bicycle and open an almirah full of books,” he said.
Irrespective of the decline in the reading culture, there is hope for the bookstores of Shillong as book lovers, even if few, still prefer books over apps – also evident in the conversation with the staff of CBS. They read books when no customer walks into their stall.
(Adity Choudhury is a Shillong-based freelancer and a contributor to The Meghalayan)