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Books must help keep society on an even keel, says Ansari

Photo: S. Mahinsha

KERALA EXPERIENCE: Vice-President Mohammad Hamid Ansari watching a folk dance performance after the inauguration of an international book fair in the city on Thursday. Governor R.L. Bhatia; Education Minister M.A. Baby; Industries Minister Elamaram Karim; and Rubin D’Cruz, Director, State Institute of Children’s Literature, are seen. —

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Vice-President Mohammad Hamid Ansari has said that the larger social role of books must be to keep society on an even keel.

Inaugurating an international book fair, organised by the Department of Culture under the auspices of the Kerala State Institute of Children’s Literature here on Thursday, Mr. Ansari said it was incumbent upon every individual, family and institution to ensure that “we do not get lost in frivolous arguments.” The broader framework of society should be based on the positive side, he said. Mr. Ansari noted that the publishing industry in the country had come of age and was now capable of producing high quality books at affordable prices. The key elements of book publishing are content, quality of production, affordability and social impact. The quality and character of content are determined by the prevailing demands. Given the rapid advances in technology in the current times, there would be an inevitable increase in the number of books on technology. As for affordability, a balance appears to have been struck in India between quality of production and affordable prices. Paperbacks, especially in English, were becoming cheaper by the day, he pointed out.

Mr. Ansari said his generation was one that was encouraged to read books and noted that the tendency today was to go straight to the Internet. Although a vast amount of information was available on the Internet, there was no way of ascertaining the authenticity of the information. Books too could lead or mislead and every society had to find ways to arrive at the truth through a process of questioning and acceptance, he added.

Earlier, presiding over the function, Governor R.L. Bhatia said the number of genuine book lovers would never diminish. He hoped that the book fair would contribute substantially to the spread of knowledge.

Education and Culture Minister M.A. Baby welcomed the gathering. Industries Minister Elamaram Karim attended the meeting. Mayor C. Jayan Babu and V. Sivankutty, MLA, offered felicitations. Rubin D’Cruz, Director, State Institute of Children’s Literature, proposed a vote of thanks. Mr. Ansari was treated to vignettes from Kerala’s cultural heritage with a brief rendition of various folk art forms by artistes of the Kerala Folklore Akademi.

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