The Central Government’s National Book Trust (NBT) will inaugurate the Pune Book Festival on December 13 at Fergusson College. Ahead of the festival, the initiative ‘Shantata… Punekar Vachat Aahet’ was conducted on December 9 at the college campus. Students from various parts of the city participated in the initiative by reading books for one hour, supporting the cause of promoting reading culture.
Siddharth Shah, a third-year student at Fergusson College, said, "In the digital age where everyone is seen scrolling their phones and consuming reels and shorts on various social media platforms, this initiative gives us the experience of actually consuming information via books. I thought it would be a boring exercise, but I was wrong. Reading is such a delight if you get your hands on a good book. I'm mostly on the phone, but now I have decided that this whole winter season I'll sit in the sun and read, as the experience was so nice and felt like therapy."
Officials from the college informed that this initiative is set to be included in the world record books, as participants were asked to upload a photo of themselves reading on the official festival website. Around 40,000 readers have uploaded their reading photographs to the festival website.
Vedant Wable, a BSc Chemistry student, said, "We celebrate the book fest every year. I participated in the reading session, and today the library will be open for the entire day. Anyone can take books from there. Usually, we have passes, and the library timings are fixed, but it will remain open for the whole day. I have taken fictional books because we don't get those on usual days."
Shivani Yayal, a second-year student of German language, said, "This book-reading session is a great engagement for exchanging books and ideas. I got to know about so many books through this initiative, and I hope my peers also get to learn something from me. It's basically an exchange of ideas and conversations and vibing on similar interests, as I made a lot of friends who are like me and are into heavy literature."
Rucha Ghadigaonkar, a student of FC College, said, "I eagerly waited for the book festival and the exhibition this year, as it gives a great opportunity to buy books at discounted rates at the exhibition. Also, the photo exhibition gives us an idea of how we can develop that skill."
Speaking about the movement, Chief Coordinator Rajesh Pande said that such initiatives will help foster a strong and intellectually empowered young generation by encouraging a culture of reading in the city.
The Chief Minister, Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, and Higher and Technical Education Minister Chandrakant Patil, along with several dignitaries, have participated in the book-reading activity by uploading their pictures while reading a book on the website.
