‘Book festival should be embraced by everyone’

Madras High Court Judge Justice K. Murali Shankar inaugurated the 13th edition of the Dindigul book festival on Thursday, in the presence of Dindigul Collector Durgamoorthi, Superintendent of Police S. Jeyakumar and others, on the Anguvilas Higher Secondary School grounds.

The book festival jointly organised by the Dindigul district administration, Directorate of Public Libraries and the Dindigul Ilakkiya Kalam will be held till November 1. Over 100 stalls have been set up at the book festival.

Addressing the gathering, Justice Murali Shankar appreciated the organisers of the book festival and said savings or undiyal initiative encouraged the students to save money to buy books. This instilled both savings and reading habits. Merely buying books was not enough. One should read books and also be able to talk about the contents of the book, he said.

He said mobile phones and social media had become an integral part of our daily lives and one cannot and need not abandon them. What mattered was how we used them.

He said students should understand the distinction between information and knowledge. Information was easily accessible. But, knowledge lay in discerning whether information was accurate, understanding its meaning and knowing how to apply it effectively.

Books are the repositories of knowledge. Everyone should make good use of them. Events like the book festival should be embraced not just by the students, but by everyone, he said.

Earlier, ‘Dindigul Reads’ (Dindigul Vaasikirathu) reading event was held to create awareness about the event and the importance of reading.

Books worth ₹3 crore were sold at the 12th edition of the book festival held last year. A total of 126 book stalls were set up. Over One lakh people attended the book festival and 66 people donated a total of 1,157 books. The donated books were given to government schools and libraries.