Reviving bond between students and books
The reading habit is on the decline among students. Technology has exacerbated the problem. Smartphone driven lessons have made students forget what a book looks like, let alone what treasure it holds.
This apprehension was expressed by one of the teachers at the college staff meeting. His views were endorsed by other teachers and it set them on the mission to bring students back on the reading track. So, the teachers put their heads together on how to make students reclaim the lost habit of reading.
Several suggestions were put forth, many of which were unpractical. Finally, it was unanimously decided that all teachers would come up with innovative ideas to inculcate the reading habit among students. After a week, the teachers shared a whole lot of new strategies with the principal to motivate students to take to reading. The college implemented a simple but practical strategy.
Each student was asked to join a book club, launched in the college. The students were told that it was mandatory to join the club but if they did not feel comfortable with the activities that the club would undertake, they could simply quit it.
A few books were kept in a corner of the library. Every Friday, a notice would be circulated among the students, informing them that a new book had been added to the list of books in the club. But, the students of a particular class were instructed to visit the club. They were not pressurised to borrow any book or read it.
The idea did not take off in the beginning. But with the passage of time, the students started showing interest in the activity. Since the students of a particular class were asked to visit the library, it created curiosity about the books among the other students. This led to an increase in the footfall of students in the library.
They would ask about a particular book, but the librarian would not lead them to the corner where the book was kept. This was intentionally done to build curiosity among the students. The librarian’s unhelpful attitude would often frustrate the students and to overcome it, they would scan other books in the library. This made them browse through shelves of books that they hadn’t heard of. Gradually, the students started getting books issued from the library.
A freewheeling discussion on the designated book was fixed every two months to give further impetus to the well-intended objective of the college. There was a perceptible change in the reading behaviour of the students within a few months. The old unbreakable bond between students and books was not only revived but also strengthened.
Nothing is impossible. Every task that one undertakes can be taken to its logical conclusion if it is pursued with passion and honesty. It is unwise to blame technology for the decline in the reading habit among students. Out-ofthe-box ideas can certainly bring back the charm of reading.
EVERY FRIDAY, A NOTICE WOULD BE CIRCULATED AMONG THE STUDENTS, INFORMING THEM THAT A NEW BOOK HAD BEEN ADDED TO THE LIST OF BOOKS IN THE CLUB
INVESTIGATORS SAY THE SECOND DOCUMENT WAS CREATED BY NIKITA JACOB, SHANTANU MULUK AND A UKBASED ACTIVIST MARINA PATTERSON
NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police on Wednesday said the activists involved in the creation of a social media toolkit on the ongoing farmers’ protests prepared a second document to organise a Twitter storm aimed at “creating unrest” in Delhi on February 4 and 5 with hashtags related to the violence during January 26 tractor rally, but could not execute it.
Investigators said the second document was created by Nikta Jacob, Shantanu Muluk -- two activists who have been accused of creating and sharing the first document -- and and a UK-based activist Marina Patterson, who is allegedly linked with the global movement “Extinction Rebellion” also referred to as “XR”.
According to its website, Extinction Rebellion is an international movement that uses non-violent civil disobedience in an attempt to halt mass extinction and minimise the risk of social collapse.
“The plan mentioned in the second toolkit, however, could not be executed. We suspect it happened because the toolkit was accidentally tweeted by Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg on February 3, the day Ravi shared it with her and coaxed her to act on it. Since the Google toolkit documents contained objectionable content, Ravi panicked, asked Greta to delete the tweet, took the admin rights and removed her name from the toolkit,” said a second senior police officer associated with the case, requesting anonymity.
According to the officer, the investigating team has already written to Google seeking details of both toolkit documents to ascertain where they were actually created, who drafted and edited them, and with whom it was shared.
The Delhi Police on Saturday arrested 22-year-old climate activist Disha Ravi from Bengaluru on charges of sedition, intending to riot and criminal conspiracy, for editing and creating a toolkit, essentially a Google document. The police have alleged that the toolkit was created to spread misinformation and incite unrest. They have also alleged that Disha shared the document with Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg who tweeted it but later removed it.
Both Muluk and Jacob have been grated pre-arrest bail court.
Activists from various organisations have said that creating a toolkit was standard operating procedure for advocacy and media outreach, and did not constitute a crime as it was entirely up to people whether or not to follow what toolkits suggested.
Protests against the arrests of the activists continued on Wednesday with members of the Congress-backed NSUI demonstrating in Delhi, accusing the police of an “authoritarian crackdown”
In a statement, NSUI president Neeraj Kundan said, “The government uses tough laws and misuses them to silence all dissenting voices.”