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Dhaka Day by Day

How Not to Develop the Reading Habit

by Parveen Anam
"I have travelled the world twice over — and all with one library ticket, to the wonderful world of books." Or so said a wise man. sometime, somewhere.
Happy the man. who said tt. For it Is a pleasure that Is certainly denied us. tn Dhaka.
Al this very moment, this city, must be absolutely lending the civilized cities of the world. In Its total lack of a very basic civic amenity: a good library, for the academically starved citizen, to perhaps spend a few quiet moments, tn the late afternoons, or returning home from work. A place, where he can lose himself. In the wonderful world of books.'
But our city fathers of course, would rather we lost ourselves, elsewhere, preferably permanently.
What reason can they ever drum up. for not even attempting, to have one. single, good library, catering to the requirement of the public?
Its not that we do not have a reading public.
If the city fathers would bother to take a small ride, at any given time of the day, tn their airconditloncd comfort, around the city precincts, they would be surprised to see crowds of people, around the walls, mostly at the Intersections of the Science Laboratory, NUkhcl, Chandnl Chawk, etc with newspapers plastered .on them, courtesy some or the other daily.
Perhaps these people cannot afford to buy the paper, but the thirst for information cannot be quenched, hence the crowding around the wail, for a glimpse of the daily'.
Let the city father' please not stop there; If he has the time to go a bit further, perhaps up to the pavement outside the Govt. New Market, he would be astonished to see the mob. leafing through the pages of secondhand magazines. Journals, you name it. for hours on end. again xrausc perhaps he can III afford to Invest the few odd takas needed to buy them.
It never fails to surprise one. how power somehow makes these "fathers' so blind, that they can hardly see beyond their noses, or the rims of their glasses or the windows of their airconditioned vehicles, and think on the Unes of at least one good library in the city.
Oh. there arc those who will Jump up In indignation and Inform you that there Is the British Council Library, catering to the taste of the city-dweller, or the public library, or the 'varsity library'. All very well stocked, we are sure, but somehow, out of bounds for ordinary mortals. The gun game' is a very lethal game, we delicately like td point out. The city dweller likes to read, but not at the expense of hts life, he has decided.
Of course, there arc the other odd library or two. tucked away here or there, the USIS included amongst them, but has anybody, i.e. the powers that be', ever managed to find time, to take a ride and visit any one of these so-called libraries? Even an avid reader, more often than not. shies away from thepe libraries'.
Perhaps our 'relevant authorities' would like to make some visible effort to construct at least a couple of libraries, with books available for the masses? Making tall statements at the bo<|k fairs, with clockwork precision, every year, about encouraging the reading habit', somehow has started to sound too hollow for even the Dhakaftc.
The commercial aspect rather than the reading habit' aspect of the book fairs, has begun to strike all. Except the 'city fathers' of course, who arc of the considered opinion, that their responsibility ends with the rhetoric of the reading habit' repeated every year, al their endless book fairs.
The reader likes to read beyond the month of February, too. if he can lay his hands on books, which miraculously seem to vanish with the month. The reading habit' is a habit difficult to curb, and certainly docs not come and go with particular months.
Believe it or not.