I love physical books. I love the smell of fresh paper and the feel of the crisp pages turning in my hand. Today, everyone is so much dependent on technology that when I ask someone to read one particular book, they ask is the Kindle version available? Recently, I have published my first book. Since it is a children’s book, I wanted to do both Kindle and Paperback version. Few asked me who reads Paperback nowadays? Do just Kindle. It’s easy, it’s convenient, I know.  But physical books still hold a relevance in the era of the Internet.

 

 

When my daughter was young, I used to read bedtime stories to her. Later when she started reading books on her own, we used to read together. It was a bedtime ritual for us. The smell of new books, feel of its crispy pages, going over the pictures as we turn the pages-all this is a part of reading. Now, as my son is growing and understanding things, we read his rhymes books, story books together. He points out to the figures and names the animals and places. He calls it his “abhyas”. We try to maintain the practice of reading a physical book. Since I am into writing, they see me reading and luckily my husband also loves reading so we make a good team.

 

These kids are blessed and fortunate to be born in the digital world. Everything is available on the Internet. They know we just have to name it and Google will do all the work for us and give us tons of information. No need to go over books and marking the paragraphs. Its good and time saving too but personally, I feel physical books have their own importance. I have seen people hesitate in reading a book but they are okay with going over 20 google pages for searching something. Especially, when it comes to kids, physical books are a lot better than internet search or online books.

 

• First of all, one thing to cut down from screen time: Kids nowadays are already doing so much of screen-time that if we can control at least one or two things then why not?

 

• Secondly, they can feel the book: What’s a big deal about it. Right? I feel when they hold a book and read, they can turn the pages and relate to the topic and relate it with any picture is related to that.

 

• No dependency on network and internet connection: Physical books do not require any internet connection. They are free from any technology dependency  🙂

 

• Linguistically, physical books are a better option: When we read with our kids, there is a discussion, exchange of opinion, dialogues which foster vocabulary. It helps in their comprehension skills as well.

 

• Fewer disturbances in terms of ads and pop-ups: Like a game plopped right in the middle of the story, then it’s not offering you the same advantages as an old-fashioned book.

 

• Paper books help in reading retention: When we read online, we tend to skip sentences as we try to look for keywords or bold/italics text and simply make out the meaning of the sentences or paragraphs. There are less chances to skip this when we read a physical book.

 

As I said, this generation is lucky to have access to books and internet both but there are kids who are not that fortunate to enjoy reading their favorite books. As a responsible citizen, if we can give even a fraction of our help to these kids then I think that will be the best gift we can give them. Deepalaya, Delhi’s largest operational NGO strives to work hard towards empowering underprivileged children. ‘Every child deserves a chance’ is what Deepalaya strongly believes in. Keeping this in mind they are raising funds via “Donate-A-Book” campaign. The funds raised from this campaign shall be utilized to purchase new Book) for needy children studying at 10 learning centers located near the slum areas of Delhi and UP.

 

Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post. I tried to give a fraction of my help to spread the word through my writing about Deepalaya’s initiative and give my contribution to this noble cause.