Do E-Books Really Satiate The Thirst?

Ambushed under the thick cloud of technology, I doubt how far can one refrain from it. Rather, do the immaculate attractions let an individual operate under the ‘old school’ tag? That's debatable, probably.

As we are grappling with such strenuous circumstances, I have to be brutally honest to highlight the sporadic tryst in my behavior with reading newspaper PDFs. My grey matter is probably accustomed to the crispy aroma of the newsprint, and the acute creases of the same. This innate habit tries to play the dominant card I guess…

Things are not that varied when it comes to flipping the digital pages on the laptop, smartphone or Kindle. The pleasing aroma of the books, the melodious gentle sound of turning the pages, go missing in a digital medium. Just the other day, an acquaintance forwarded an anthology of William Blake. I was eyeing through ‘The Lamb’ and was striving hard to revisit those days when I would cling onto such collections for long hours, and would only part ways when there would be a grand rebuke…

Quite flabbergasted by the digital medium, I soon deciphered later that the exasperation perhaps was due to the fact that my psyche refused to adapt to the digital medium. Yet this was quite perplexing, as the content was the same, words were identical, and so was the tonality! Why did the digital medium fail to excite me then? Why don’t I get to experience the serenity, insightfulness and an ever wandering mindset here? 

During childhood, indoor games often included recalling the names of the Presidents and Prime Ministers of international borders and ‘How Strong Your Vocabulary Is’. During the latter, if you couldn’t answer five consecutive terms, then you were labelled as a non-newspaper reader. People around you presumed that you are not updated because you don’t read enough.

Also while in school, there was this intrinsic activity that we all had to be a part of every Friday when we had to talk about 5 new words that we learnt from the newspaper throughout the week. Those days, Google wasn’t the saviour as it is now, and that we had to bring actual newspaper cuttings to prove the authenticity behind our new vocabulary...

And, it was fun, and more than amusement, we felt enriched after every exercise and would often strive to be better prepared for the next sessions. Additionally, this exercise paved the way for a piece of better knowledge and getting enlightened. 

I somehow feel that the major feud between the traditional model of reading and that of the digital one, is perhaps because the former creates an opportunity to delve deeper into your thoughts and mull over it for quite some time. Consider the columns of Bachi Karkaria. Whenever you come across the word ‘Alec Smart’, you think ‘Oh okay, some Smart Alec must have said, and then you see yourself forming a myriad of thought bubbles in your head like, “Oh, is the earth really round”, or “Does the sun really set in the West”, or “Was Article 370 really revoked in Kashmir”?

One thought leads to another, and another to another, until you realise that it’s time for you to pass on the paper to your next family member. Yet, the digital medium gives you the complete ownership of clinging on to your device for eternal time. But…

Something goes amiss. Probably, it’s the ownership and nostalgia...