Book-end

Who reads books nowadays? Not our media for sure.

WrittenBy:Anand Vardhan
Date:
Article image
  • Share this article on whatsapp

“People who do not read books have no advantage over people who cannot read books.”                                                                                                                                          – Mark Twain

subscription-appeal-image

Support Independent Media

The media must be free and fair, uninfluenced by corporate or state interests. That's why you, the public, need to pay to keep news free.

Contribute

Those were times when The Times of India wasn’t headquartered on D N road in Mumbai. It had a book-loving editor in gentler times of scholarly editors. In 1974, TOI had its head office at Bori Bunder in what was then Bombay, and the man who edited the paper inspired awe for his profound erudition and integrity. Just sample this.

An editor of a ‘niche’ magazine (‘niche’ for reasons that required it to be tucked away under mattresses), had written a book which by his own admission was a “trivial book”. He wished to get it reviewed in TOI but had been warned that TOI only reviewed books by writers of the stature of Kafka and Camus. The rest of the story is best told in the words of the book’s writer: “Nevertheless, it was suggested that if I personally presented the book to Sham Lal, he might relent. Just knock on his door and try your luck, I was told. Trembling, I took the lift to the fourth floor and stood outside his cabin. I looked at his formidable nameplate and at the cover of my frivolous book. I chickened out”.

So you now know in what awe Sham Lal, the legendary editor of TOI from 1967 to 1978, was held. You might have also known by now that the awe-struck editor of the ‘niche’ Debonair and review-seeking writer of the book, went on to become one of the most eminent editors of our times and even edited the widely read news magazine, Outlook. No prizes for guessing that the intimidated editor was Vinod Mehta. And the oft told part of Sham Lal-lore is how for some thieves who broke into Sham Lal’s house in Delhi, this awe turned into disgust. All that the thieves could manage to find in the erudite editor’s house were books – from floor to ceiling.

Those times couldn’t be more different to what you expect to find or not find in TOI today. One, you don’t expect an editor for TOI anymore. Two, please rein in your hopes, don’t look for a Books page in TOI (except wiki-type weekly capsules on self-help/cookery books and chick-lit). And of course, you have to be an eternal optimist if you are hoping to find Kafka, Camus and their ilk on the pages of TOI.

But TOI hasn’t been the only one which seems to be smug about its divorce from the world of letters. It’s a divorce that was delayed by the association of its editor of the early Nineties, Dileep Padagaonkar with Mexican writer Octavio Paz but later expedited by the commercial juggernaut of the Jains. A major section of the mainstream media also has a tenuous relation with the world of ideas, original reflection, scholarship and literary creativity.

If you look at the major Indian newspapers in English, your brief encounters with the world of books will remain weekly affairs only. The Hindu scores a tad better – in addition to its weekly biblio engagements it has a 4-page monthly pullout (first Sunday of every month). Interestingly, it is the financial daily, Business Standard, which has something for the bibliophile every day. But that’s an exception to the general rule of weekly memory that papers have about the existence of biblio space. And this weekly rendezvous is restricted to a few columns. Try juxtaposing it with the book review supplements which The Guardian, The Times (London) and The New York Times carry and also recall the iconic book review desk editors which these papers had. Can you think of their Indian counterparts? Try to come up with any name.

Mainstream English newsmagazines have also not been too generous on this count. Considering that most of them are either weekly publications (India Today, Outlook, The Week) or fortnightly (Frontline), the books pages of newsmagazines often leave much to be desired in terms of space given, range of books reviewed and their contribution to the genre of book reviews and book discourse. It is also limited by some latent indifference to regional literature. For reasons that should be reflected upon, the Books page of English magazines, like that of English newspapers, have not gone beyond the English publishing scene. I have addressed some aspects of this divide in another piece –

The book review scene in the regional press is also not something that would please your biblio senses. A case in point is the Hindi press. Except Jansatta’s Sunday literary pullout and Dainik Bhaskar’s weekly peep into the Hindi publishing scene, the engagement of Hindi newspapers with the Hindi world of letters has been quite erratic. It’s a sad commentary on the times because at one time the Books pages of the Hindi press were illuminated by stalwarts such as Muktibodh, Dharmvir Bharti, Yashpal, Harishankar Parsai, et al.

The books’ universe somehow does not fit in the small screen. For all the eagerness shown by news channels to review the latest movie releases, new cars on roads and gadgets, an insightful discourse on books is missing from their programming policy (an exception being the corporate launches of books in a five star ambience). Be prepared to be surprised here too. The only show that is worth mentioning in this context is aired on a business channel – Just Books on NDTV Profit – hosted by Sunil Sethi (not  to be confused with his more famous namesake). Could that be because some programming honcho has done a commercial dissection of the attention span and reading habits of the young urban audience with the purchasing power? Some insidious signs of this attention span-epidemic has been reflected upon in another piece –

Apart from events and people, a vital function of the media is to unlock for us an unending world of ideas. From ancient civilisations to the modern world, this is a world that has been powerfully expressed through the world of letters, and letters immortalised in books to seminally reflect upon and shape the times. The absence of this world from the reams of your newspapers and airwaves of your news channels should disturb you. The retreat of Mr Mehta from Mr Lal’s office was understandable. The retreat of the media from the world of books is worrisome.

imageby :
subscription-appeal-image

Power NL-TNM Election Fund

General elections are around the corner, and Newslaundry and The News Minute have ambitious plans together to focus on the issues that really matter to the voter. From political funding to battleground states, media coverage to 10 years of Modi, choose a project you would like to support and power our journalism.

Ground reportage is central to public interest journalism. Only readers like you can make it possible. Will you?

Support now

You may also like