The best friends ever
By: Vijay Garg
A house without books is like a closed room without windows. Any educational institution is incomplete if it does not have a library. Books are the measure of civilization and culture of every country.
The progress of any country is not estimated from its multi-storied buildings, chimneys touching the sky and winding roads, but from the works of that country and the stature and thoughts of its writers. The ideas contained in books created many revolutions, thus books are more powerful than weapons They prove to be more powerful.
Sri Guru Granth Sahib has been given the place of Guru in Sikhism. Such an example is not found anywhere in the world. Authors of books may be born in a place but they are common to all like, Shakespeare is common to all.
Books are our best friends and rulers, we never feel that they will betray us at any stage because books don’t wear fake masks like humans do. We can take good guidance from books whenever we want. They are the most auspicious.
The feeling of friendship and warmth with books is necessary for people of all classes, but today the greatest need is for the children to adopt books as their true friends. When we don’t give children books to entertain them, they spend their free time watching TV and using other gadgets. Also they consume time watching and playing games on mobile phones.
We need to pledge to gift good books to children on their birthdays so that they move towards some positive development not only at home but at school as well. It is also the duty of teachers in colleges to motivate students to read good books but the hobby of buying books is waning among us.
We can buy nice decorative items to decorate the house, but we want the book to be free. We make room for everything in the house, not for books. We should reserve a place for books in our homes. Today’s world is a world of ideas. Today’s writers are common to all, not just one country.
The ideas books share are common to all and these ideas cross the boundaries as technology has made the access to books so easy that anyone can have them without bothering too much.
The usefulness and utility of books proved during the times of pandemic when all options to spent time on TV, mobile phones and other gadgets proved futile and only those who had books at their home availed of the benefit and spent their time not only learning but gaining never insights into various aspects of life and universe.
(The author is a Retired Principal and an Educational Columnist)
