Stephen King has hit the nail on the head when he said- “Books are uniquely portable form of magic.”
In simplest language books are expressed as written or printed work consisting of pages bound in cover. But as simple its meaning is they aren’t. They are conversation between the words and reader. Books evolved the world and affected human life largely. The development of writing and print revolution contributed greatly to development of ‘books’. The development of books traces back to when Papyrus scrolls and wooden parchments were used to circulate ideas and information. The first printed book was Buddhist ‘Diamond Sutra’ printed in China in 868 A.D. As print revolution started- Johannes Gutenberg invented first book around year 1440. He established the first printing press and first book printed in the press was ‘Bible’. Books subsequently developed in various forms for rich personalized book were developed with good quality of page, whereas Chapbooks were developed for poor audience –they were low priced books made up of cheap paper but helped in spreading literacy among people from grass root level. With industrial revolution and development in printing press books were printed in varied forms and based on numerous subjects from science to technology, from fiction to nonfiction, from fairytales to folktales. Without books it was difficult to spread ideas, literacy rate were low, new ideas didn’t find a medium to grow, people were restricted to monotonous thinking, writing couldn’t develop, people had limited knowledge. But after development of books; the ideas of scientists and philosophers now became more accessible to the common people; books popularized the ideas of the Enlightenment thinkers. Collectively, their writings provided a new way of looking at things. They argued for the rule of reason rather than custom, and demanded that everything be judged through the application of reason and rationality, people developed , books provided platform for spreading ideas, books converted hidden voices into revolutions, they helped to increase literacy rate among poor, people became more rational and welcomed new seeds of thinking. Further books took a new form – Paperback which were and are easily accessible by people. As world grew books grew from Paperback version to E-books. Nowadays, E-books are easily readable at anytime, anywhere. We can read them using phones, laptop and computers. The books also digitalized with the digital world. Further Audio books have also developed a huge audio-readers community, audio books provide completely new side of books, listening books has became an easy affair and can help to save time along with providing knowledge. Books personally help us to grow and develop our intellect and imagination. Creativity is something every book develops in the reader. Books help us to gain new perspective and get different views on a particular topic. Books help us to grow mentally, and they help us to develop our horizon and thinking. They help us to grow mentally as well as emotionally. They teach us a different lesson in life. They help us develop analytical skills. They enable us to develop confidence within ourselves. They give us answers to different life questions. Books are food for the mind; they shape our views and opinions. They have cheered us. They have helped us. They have been instrumental in our progress .In a way we move in their company and their experiences become ours. Books help you connect with the greatest minds that have accomplished something in life. You become more disciplined and your focus increases. Your perspective towards life changes as you observe life from a different angle Books charge you to take actions and execute your plan. You move towards a path of being a leader because “Leaders are Reader”. Books take you into a different world altogether. Away from the stress we have to face all day, taking us along a beautiful, untraded path. It gives us hope. Books can be categorized into – thriller, self help, fiction, non- fiction etc. Self help books help us to improve ourselves and are our companion in the self improvement journey. Books help us to think beyond the ordinary, fiction books help us to create our own characters. Autobiographies and biographies help us to deeply understand the lives of people and in turn develop ourselves. As it is said, we should learn from others’ mistakes along with ours as we don’t have the time to make all mistakes in life and learn every time. Books also help to develop great attitude which is pre-requisite for a great life. Johannes Gutenberg made a great invention and hope the biblio-world (world of books) continues open up our minds and diversify our thoughts.
By Urvi Shah , Nagpur
