ARENJUNGLA KICHU | MOKOKCHUNG | NOVEMBER 12
In this day and age, most people, particularly young people, are losing interest in reading, whether it is a newspaper, a simple magazine, or a book. Indeed, even in Mokokchung, the habit of reading in our society has shrunk drastically.
Chubameren Imchen, AKM Education Secretary, informed Mokokchung Times that the Reference and Reading Room, which the Ao Kaketshir Mungdang (AKM) established to make reading books available for free for various competitive exams, has received only 65 visits in the last three months.
“It is truly very low. We were not expecting this low,” Imchen said.
According to him, the AKM launched this initiative to assist aspirants who could not afford coaching as well as books.
“Because aspirants in Mokokchung do not have easy access to books, and there are so many educated unemployed, we thought that if we could provide them with books, free internet access and electrification, students and young people alike would take advantage of the facilities. We even have two computers in case they want to use it to fill out various forms,” he explained.
When asked why he thinks there is such a low turnout, he speculated that “perhaps there aren’t enough readers in Mokokchung.”
“It appears that people are more interested in the backdoor than in reading sincerely and getting through,” he explained.
“We have very few local entrepreneurs and daily wage earners in town,” he continued, “We’re all just lazy bones. The town appears to have lost its work culture and the concept of dignity of labor.”
“For other people, technology could be bringing all the benefits to society,” he said, “but most of the youths I meet in Mokokchung are too involved in playing games.”
He also stated that he does not believe telling people to change will work because if it did, it would have happened a long time ago. He went on to say that reading is now in decline because society is “judgmental and corrupt.”
“We live in a very judgmental society. For instance, if the parent is a gazette officer, they will become involved in politics and work for a specific candidate, and this is how they will shape their children’s future. However, no matter how hard they try, the children of farmers are unable to obtain employment. All of these activities reduce the value of reading,” he explained.
“If saying things can change things, then it would have happened a long time ago. So it is time for self-realization,” he said.
In terms of the AKM, he said that establishing the Reference and Reading Room is a step towards AKM attempting to do something productive for society despite its many flaws.
Meanwhile, Assistant Professor and one of Bookipedia’s founders Limasenla Jamir stated that since 2020, they have issued approximately 861 library cards and that 3 to 4 people borrow books on an average every week.
“Although the number is lower, it is a good number for Bookipedia because we did not expect that many to show up. Bookipedia was founded to revitalize the reading culture,” she explained.
When asked how and when she believes the reading culture in Mokokchung declined, she stated that it may have declined after 2004-5.
“I remember our generation, the millennials (those born between 1981 and 1996), reading a lot, but then came the phone in 2004-5, which gave us access to music and then finally low-cost internet, and all of a sudden, even the millennials stopped reading things,” she explained.
She went on to say that the Gen-Z generation (those born between 1996 and the early-mid 2000s) seems to have no reading culture at all.
Speaking of the negative effects of a lack of reading, she stated that a lack of reading has affected many students’ English composition.
“As a teacher, I can see that the students struggle to write a paragraph without error, their vocabulary is poor, and they don’t understand so many things,” she explained, and added that there is a significant difference in composition and understanding between students who read and those who do not.
Reading culture, she believes, can be revitalized by creating an environment that appeals to them.
“I believe Bookipedia is an example of how we fuse coffee culture with reading culture. Perhaps, more innovative ideas like this can be pursued. However, the unfortunate reality is that nobody has the time,” she added.