East Singhbhum Literary Festival: Read books, newspapers regularly, authors tell students

Jamshedpur: Highlighting the importance of reading habits among students of all age groups during the opening session of the first East Singhbhum Literary Festival, 2016 Sahitya Akademi Award winner Jerry Pinto said, “Every day, school and college-going students in Jamshedpur must spend at least 10 minutes of their day reading books, newspapers or magazines.”

Author Pinto, of the ‘Murder in Mahim’ crime thriller fame and many other similar books, said, “If students spend 10 minutes of their day in reading other than textbooks, she/he will be rich in more than 100 new words along with vast knowledge by the end of the week.”

Hailing from Mumbai, Pinto, who is currently working on a book on palliative care, said, “It is sad that students are shying away from reading fiction and non-fiction books and are more interested in surfing on mobiles. The govt should put more effort into attracting Gen Z towards books. Literary festivals like this should be organized at panchayat levels, so that rural youth can get close and interact with famous authors, which will increase their reading habits.”

Talking to TOI, winner of the 2019 Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar, Anuj Lugun, a tribal poet and author, said, “It is sad that Adivasi dresses and cuisines from Jharkhand are getting global recognition but not the literary works.”

“The Jharkhand govt should open more tribal academies here so that the younger generation can take to writing more books in different Adivasi languages,” he said.

Lugun further said, “More authors and poets should regularly come up with books in the Adivasi language. The govt should ensure all help to such authors and poets in Jharkhand.”

He added, “More universities of Jharkhand should teach the Adivasi language and have proper, qualified teachers.”