As writers, I am sure, all of us are improving ourselves, every single day.
We follow great writers, imbibe great tips from amazing success stories and also take pains to polish our writing in every way possible. There are ups and downs, no doubt, but we take that in our stride and work focused towards a single point agenda; to be a FAMOUS, SUCCESSFUL writer.
So far so good.
But the pertinent question comes, do we ever think about our activities beyond ME and MYSELF?
As writers and book lovers, we occupy a unique position in our society and not everybody can achieve that privilege easily.
Are we GIVING back to the society, what we have earned so far?
Are we taking steps in making this world a more knowledgeable, better place to live?
A couple from Delhi is doing precisely that. For this couple, nothing beats the joy of spreading the love for Reading than anything else.
Here is how they do it every day:
The Story of Shruti and Tarun
Shruti and Tarun are like any other hard working urban couple. They travel to work every day on the Delhi metro and have the usual long grueling hours of work. Both of them passionately share the love for reading books and it is this passion which motivated them to go beyond themselves and spread this affection among the other people in society.
And they are doing this by leaving books on the Delhi metro for the commuters to pick up, read and return; all for free.
Shruti got this inspiring idea from the famous actress Emma Watson who left copies of her favorite book on the New York subway for commuters to read for free. This inspired Shruti to start a similar initiative in Delhi.
She reached out to the organizers of “Books On the Subway” in New York and asked them if something similar could be rolled out in her city. Fortunately, she got a thumbs up and thus began her campaign, “Books On the Delhi Metro”.
Shruti and Tarun now leaves books on the Delhi subway and regularly update their social media handles with clues that lead a passenger to the station where the book has been kept. Sometimes, the books can even be found inside the trains. The passenger picks up the book and tags Shruti to know that they have taken it.
There is no restriction on the time frame. One can keep the book for as long as they wish. Passengers are, however, encouraged to leave the book in the same manner on the Delhi Metro, so that someone else can pick up the read. Of course, there are cases of books getting lost or pilfered, but as long as people are reading and spreading the love for reading, Shruti does not mind the loss even a bit!!!
She is doing her bit for the society and she is happy doing it!!
The initiative is still in the nascent stage, but already I could see the following changes, while I was travelling in the metro-:
• I could find a lot more people reading, than whiling time with their smartphones.
• Less quarrels, brawls and outbursts of frustration.
• A healthy bit of sharing and collaboration seems to have generated among the commuters and books have made that possible.
The One Lesson I learned
Shruti and Tarun inspired me to do something similar in my own neighborhood. We now have a regular book lovers club which has members from all walks of society. Every week, we meet, discuss ideas, collaborate thoughts and exchange books. The members have now increased to 150 now, and among them, a lot of kids are showing the promise of becoming the budding intellectuals of tomorrow.
In short, we help each other do better, think better and also write better.
Writing and Reading are the only two unique treasures available in this world, that grow exponentially, the more we share and collaborate. Every modicum of sharing not only makes us, personally a better person but also plays an important role in healing this world and making it a far better place to live and breathe in.