The romance of reading the “old fashioned way”!

Last year the launch of the Amazon Kindle created a lot of buzz in the book industry and if that did not kindle a flame in the hearts of book lovers and geeks, this year may make modern Plato’s of us all, since we may be seen roaming with tech tablets in the form of Apple I Pads. However, the digital revolution may not bode well for people like me who love reading the ‘old fashioned’ way.

I have nothing against technology but there are some things that I pray would remain the same. Many may call me a romantic fool but sometimes I’d rather be that than give up an old love. I find an e book extremely non personal, for it takes away so much from the whole experience of leafing through the pages of a book.

Reading on a digital device for me, is like having a diet supplement rather than a four course meal. I would never give up the pleasure of ravishing a good read for anything in the world.

I love the scent of old tattered second hand books, the coarse look and feel of the yellow pages roughened with age. Some even have little notes scribbled on the front leaf, mostly birthday or anniversary wishes and the name of the person who possibly presented these on particular occasions. My association with such a book begins right away, when I think that it has travelled a long way, changed many hands, brought joy to the person who got it as a present, when it was new with crisp pages. Then perhaps it fell from grace and for reasons unknown became part of a “kabhaari’s” paraphernalia or a second hand book shop, until I rescued it and reinstated it to its rightful position, on a bookshelf. Wonder, when the digital dragon engulfs all things printed, will we be able to have such pleasures. Will a digital device have any sentimental value or will it just be a part of e-waste?

Another favourite hobby of mine is browsing through books at bookstores. I can spend hours just looking at various volumes, before picking up several and then grudgingly sorting and re sorting these to limit my choice to just one or two. The experience is even more enjoyable if the owner or his assistants know what they have in the shop and helpfully recommend some. Sadly in most cases many of these are just salesmen who are clueless about authors and indifferent to books. I am willing to tolerate the latter in mega chain bookstores, for the digital editions are going to deprive me of this joy as well.

Sometimes I try to console myself by thinking that I may eventually take to these devices. I remember there was a time when my thoughts danced to the tune of a pen and I could not simply churn out any piece of writing on a computer but now I need a keyboard for putting down my thoughts and feelings. (In fact I should consider it a saviour in disguise since my handwriting is worse, though perfectly legible, than that of my 11 year old cousin)

I know this may be an issue for a long drawn debate since environmentalists would argue that more printed books mean more exploitation of natural resources but I do not want to start a Copenhagen climate conference here. My love for tactile books defies reason, which may favour virtual versions, but I guess Love is often beyond reason and I would prefer flipping the pages of an actual book rather than adapting to one touch buttons, virtual flips or clicks.