A physical book is an extension of your persona: Ravinder Singh

The charm of the physical books will never fade. The smell, the pale pages and the dry rose petals cannot be ever overshadowed by the digital versions. The session ‘The Charm of Paper in a Digital World’ was an engaging session at the Times LitFest Delhi 2018 that brought back the old stories from the past world of the eminent authors.

“There is a whole lot of romance in reading itself. When I’m reading, I want to be present in the physical world and connect with the author’s mindspace to understand his world and for that to happen I do not want any digital layer to disturb it,” said author Ravinder Singh as he started the session. Explaining the connect only a physical book can make, Ravinder singh added an emotional incident where one of his readers had shared a picture of his book’s

I Too Had A Love Story

page number 212 which did not have any message except for the dried tear drops. And that had set the pace for this brilliant session.

Author Nazia Erum moderated the session with her vivacious energy and paved way for some interesting dialogues through her questions.

Author Kiran Manral shared that she still has a habit of reading a book every night before going to the bed and prefers reading a physical book because the digital modes do not have the same charm. “I can't picture myself with my son on the lap and holding a kindle,” said Manral.

Henry Eliot’s favourite memory about a book come from one of his earlier 5-month trip to India. He shared that he was reading

Charles Dickens

’

Bleak House

on his train journey from Mumbai to Kolkata and the fun of finishing the pages slowly was very exciting. It is now one of his favourite books.

Adding to the strength and value a paper holds, AS Mehta, President JK Papers, added that the fond memory of the letter he wrote to his father from hostel cannot be replaced by any digital mode. Handwritten letters have their own value that can create deep memories.

A physical book is an extension of your persona and Ravinder Singh said that he would love to flaunt a book while travelling. The discussion brought out many facets of the authors that clearly depicted their love for paperbacks more than the digital books.