Imagination has been the foundation of almost all the things that we see around us. It was basic hints like trees, birds, lightning or even a tea kettle which brought mankind to the threshold of creation of sophisticated implements and means.

Not everybody is a Newton, a Tagore or a Picasso, but years of literature carefully stored away in books can certainly inspire lesser mortals like us to aspire and do something outstanding like them.

The city that we live in, buzzes with people who know pretty well how to make good use of the creations of our ancestors. The food joints are always choc-a-bloc with people, the wedding resorts throb with men and women partying away in the chilly January nights, teenagers flock the malls and markets and the sunny days keep the children busy flying colourful kites.

But the missing, unhappy link that separates this generation from the preceding one is that they hate reading. TV and internet have somehow kept them away from the treasure of books which is a more burden for them than a means to enhance their imaginations. A tete-a-tete with the men who deal with books tells us much more about it.

Ajit Rakheja of Universal Book Depot at Mai Hira Gate says, “The state of affairs shows that the reading pattern of the citizens is going from bad to worse. Only 25 per cent of the total sales that we initially used to have are left. We had expected to sell at least 500 copies of the latest version of Harry Potter, but it sold just about 100 copies. Matters have come to a point that we now keep only 10 to 20 copies of books from authors even like Sidney Sheldon which used to sell like hot cakes earlier.”

“A man comes in a big Mercedes and all he asks for is a second-hand book. It's not just about money people are basically not interested in buying books anymore. The only kind of books which sell are curriculum books or controversial stuff,” adds Rakheja.

Upinder, a BCA (final) student of KMV College who had come to buy a book at the store, says, “We do not have time to do extra reading because the curriculum books themselves keep us very busy.”

S.K. Sharma of Reader's Paradise, Model Town, is relatively satisfied with the sales but he has his own story to tell. “Most of the customers buy books for gifts. We have a very limited number of customers who are regular buyers and read books due to their personal interest.”

“There are more hotels in the city than book shops. For a person who is interested in buying big bucks, book selling is certainly not the right business,” Sharma adds.

Satish Kumar of Sethi News Agency in Shastri Market is another man bothered by the dwindling readership of books. “About 10 years ago I used to sell Hindi literature and books but now I have taken to selling just magazines. Even magazines are selling lesser than they used to earlier.”

Also see:  http://www.punjabheritage.org/manuscripts/who-says-sikhs-dont-read-books.html

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