Originally posted on 15 Dec 2011

I was not born with a silver spoon in the mouth, but I suspect that a book was in my hand as soon as I was strong enough to hold it. Books were my best friends. In my younger days, the train journey stretched over several days, but with a book in had time did not hang heavy on me. Over the years, I have acquired a few thousand works of masters. Carting them from one station to another on military postings has been a problem, but my wife and I were able to brave the burden.

Amongst the tomes I possess, the ones which I have read the most are my dictionaries, thesauruses and the encyclopedias. However, during the last few years, the laptop has replaced the printed paper. My immediate reason for the switch over is the vision problem. I can magnify the electronic words with the click of a button. And then there is the bother of picking up the book from the upper racks in my collection. Some volumes are so heavy that my aging limbs are not able to bear their weight. That apart, there are several other factors: If I wish to obtain a more detailed piece of an associated subject, the e-media permits me to do so through the ‘hyper-link’ facility. The e-books are always illustrated, and each picture tells a thousand words. In many cases, there is a link to audio and even video clips, and that facilitates information transmission. The ‘search engines’ give you the opinions of several learned men simultaneously, for ease of analyses.

During a recent train journey, I noticed that the number of passengers with laptops exceeded those who had books in their hands. Back home, I took stock of my book shelves and discovered that I have not even touched the books which served me for so many decades. Tagore and Ghalib have been my masters, and I owe them a lot. Here on my screen, I can get their works by merely keying in the first few words of their poems.

Where do I go from here? Over the years, we have had to part company with  gramophone records which kindled our spirit. The recorded tapes and cassettes met with the same fate. And now the CDs have become redundant, because all the songs and movies which are of any consequence can be accessed from the Internet. Books are also becoming increasingly available as free downloads.

I hate to say so, but it seems that the day is not far when a room full of printed paper in our house will need unceremonious disposal.

I started writing early in my life. My first full length book was published nearly fifty years ago. It was re-printed but as far as I remember, I received no more than twenty letters in response to my labour of love. It took more than a year for it to reach out to all my friends. And, now whatever is put on the net gets to my friends in a fraction of a second, and their opinions are with me within a couple of days. I do not know what the others are going to do, but if the writing bug bites me again, printed book is not going to be my option. I think time has come for me to bid farewell to my kind friends. With a heavy heart, I have to say, “Adieu, adieu kind friends adieu…I can no longer stay with you!”

My immediate impulse to switch over to the e-medium came from a picture which a friend mailed to me. It is a painting which contains a few dozen historic personages. If you click on the link below, the e-enabled picture will appear on your screen. Click on any face, and you will find that his name will appear. Now click on it, and you will get his complete bio data. Can the printed book reach anywhere near this?

To view the main picture, please click on the following link. On the full picture, if you click on any of the famous persons shown, you can get his name.

http://cliptank.com/PeopleofInfluencePainting.htm

I would welcome your views. And if any one needs my books he is welcome to come and help himself…and in the process, help me!!