I remember vividly, during my summer holidays, I would often read out The Statesman to my grandfather. He loved the English language, and if he came across a word whose meaning he did not adequately understand, he would ask me to take out his dictionaries. Yes, he had three of them; the Chambers, Oxford and the Webster’s and I had to read out the meanings from each of them, so that no nuance was lost. And much to my annoyance, he would sometimes make me also consult Roget’s Thesaurus, so that he could know about its synonyms, its antonyms and their subtle differences.

Now when I reflect on those days, I often wonder where those dictionaries might have gone. Do young readers even have them on their shelves or do they simply Google words? Does the Thesaurus still sell? I am pretty sure most bookshops these days do not carry them. What is happening to newspapers? I remember there used to be a fight among my brothers and I about reading the newspapers. Someone would want the sports page, while someone would want the front page. The same news would be reported so differently in various newspapers that serious readers would prefer to read both The Statesman as well as The Hindu to get a well-rounded view. But today I see the newspaper lying on people’s doorsteps practically unattended.

Then we had the magazines; the Reader’s Digest, Femina, Illustrated Weekly and Sportsworld. I remember eagerly waiting for the National Geographic to be delivered and opening the packet would always be a treat. Where have they all disappeared? Well, they live nowadays in our tablets and our phones. Gone are the days when every educated affluent Bengali family had a set of Encyclopedia Britannica, those beautifully produced and painstakingly-researched leather-bound volumes, which were treasured and passed down from generation to generation. Alas! Today we have Wikipedia, a free, online encyclopedia compiled and contributed to by volunteers worldwide and the veracity of whose information cannot be wholly relied upon.

Arrival of the digital age

The digital onslaught has been fierce and like all other media, physical books have been deeply impacted.
However, for a moment, let us step back and look at the wonderful journey the physical book has travelled. From the clay tablets and inscriptions of the ancient Sumerian civilisation to the papyrus scrolls of Egypt dating back to 3,000 BCE, mankind has been diligently recording information for millennia. Papyrus scrolls gradually got replaced by parchment and ultimately paper. It was in the year 1440 that Johannes Gutenberg of Germany invented the printing press and the Gutenberg Bible was printed in 1455, and we got the book in its modern form. Is it not remarkable that till the invention of the commercial Internet in the 1990s, books remained practically the sole source of information and knowledge, the repository of all culture and literature for nearly 500 years? Whether it was for information or leisure, reading remained the primary way to educate and entertain oneself.

But this changed dramatically when two Stanford postgraduates wrote the code for an online search engine in 1998 and invented the Google search engine. Now information suddenly became free. Communication became easy due to emails. Products became more easily available due to online stores. Jeff Bezos set up Amazon in 1994 and suddenly one could buy all the books one wanted online. Then came social media, instant messaging, applications such as Orkut, Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Twitter became mainstream and communication and information exploded. People suddenly had access to diverse channels to express themselves, news became instant, fashion and trends became viral all over the globe overnight.
Then Kindle was launched by Amazon in 2008, an e-reader where a book could be downloaded in a jiffy and read at leisure even without the internet. Digital books were said to be a game changer and one thought that this would be the last nail in the coffin for physical books. But surprisingly this has not been the case. The digital book’s market share has remained constant at 15 per cent over the last few years even in western societies that have better digital infrastructure and awareness.
So how has the advancement of digital technology impacted reading? Are people reading less? Have OTT channels like Netflix, Disney+ Hotstar, HBO taken over the book-reading audience? Have YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels become the first choice of consumers seeking newer content and entertainment? In many ways yes, and in many ways no. People are reading more and constantly. However, we could say their reading has become less immersive, less deep. Social media, with its constant pings and richer content, have made our attention spans shorter.

Increased attention deficit

The ease of publishing information has led to a deterioration in the quality of information. Though now information has become more democratic, and people are now able to make their voices heard, lack of editorial oversight is leading to misleading information being published. Sometimes information designed to provoke and incite becomes viral and leads to divisiveness and strife. But blogs, social media posts, self-publishing platforms have no doubt expanded the range of reading material. Digital book clubs and communities have facilitated the sharing of information leading to easier discovery of newer authors and have enhanced the reading experience.

Paper, which is often manufactured using natural resources such as trees, has a detrimental impact on the environment and e-books which require no space, logistics or consumption of natural resources seem the logical and sustainable way forward. However, prolonged screen time is leading to increased attention deficit syndrome, increased strain on eyes and reduced real-world social interactions. So we see the digital and physical continue to have their pros and cons.

The physical dictionary is perhaps going extinct; we may no longer buy our Lonely Planets when planning our travels, but the physical book continues to live on.
In my recent visit to the Kinokuniya bookstore in Sydney, I was glad to see the store thronged by young readers and stocked with an amazing range of books. There is a pleasure in possessing a book, in buying books, the unforgettable smell of new paper, the joy of discovering new books in a bookstore which no digital book or online store can give. Technology will no doubt continue its relentless march and we will need to move with the times, but we will also need to find a healthy balance, between the physical and digital worlds because each medium has its unique advantages and disadvantages.

Picture yourself with a hardcover crime fiction novel on a grey rainy afternoon with a warm cup of tea, curled up on your sofa and you immediately get transported to an oasis of tranquility and joy, your very own personal space where only you and the characters of the book exist. This sublime pleasure can never be replicated. Stephen King has so rightly said: “Books are a uniquely portable magic.” So keep the magic on!

Gautam Jatia is the managing director and CEO of Emami Frank Ross Ltd and manages Starmark & Frank Ross pharmacy. He is an avid reader and a crossword enthusiast