Three young teens that have recently completed their School Leaving Certificate (SLC) examinations are among this crowd and are making use of their free time reading.[break]
"Course books are extremely textual and especially the government books are just so awful to read," says Ashutosh Rai, 16, who is set to begin his A-levels next week. "And so reading outside of the curriculum is fresh and fun," he adds.
The problem is age-old. The fact is that Nepal´s text and course books offer no opportunity to delve into the creative side of literature. "The whole point is to be able to read a story, understand it and take enjoyment from it," explains Rajat Shrestha, who is looking to begin his plus two soon. "But the stories in our English text books are just not challenging or any fun," he says.
These boys are of the opinion that reading is necessary and good and not only does it "make minds more creative," but it also "improves English". They are in agreement on the fact that the students who take time out to read fiction or even non-fiction outside of their curriculum always have a "better vocabulary," and are often more articulate in their English.
For young sixteen year olds, they argue that their interests are varied and thus the kind of books they read are equally as varied and versatile. "I read everything from Steven Hawkins to Dan Brown, because I believe that one shouldn´t stick to just one genre," says sixteen-year-old Samrat Man Singh. And his fellow pupil Ashutosh Rai also agrees stating that he finds "it strange when people only read books of one genre. To have wider knowledge and for variance, I think it´s vital to read novels of different genres".
However, among the three, Rajat Shrestha says that he´d prefer to watch movies or television or go and play football rather than sitting and reading a book. "A lot of books are made into movies anyway nowadays, so I´d prefer to just spend a few hours watching the movies rather than reading the books," he says. This sentiment is shared by many youngsters in Nepal and the world over. But what is overlooked is the amount of imaginative freedom that is allowed when picking up a novel and creating a world inside of one´s one head.
"We don´t read for any specific gains, even though we know there are benefits. We read just because it is fun for us," says Ashutosh adding that there are those that "read novels in the same way as textbooks, and there´s just no point in that".
But reading should not just be limited to Nepali literature. However, with the majority of schools in the valley teaching in the English medium and giving English more importance, students find it extremely difficult to comprehend Nepali literature. "I just don´t read in Nepali. I don´t understand that level of the language," says Rajat. "And it´s not just there is a language problem, but the fact that I just don´t find the synopsis and plot lines of Nepali novels as engrossing," says Ashutosh. And in the face of thrillers and fantasy novels that keep fresh young minds engaged, perhaps indeed the Nepali literature scene isn´t exactly catering to younger minds.
But in a country that has hardly any libraries open to the public and with the prices of books being more than ten times what a DVD might cost, how are these guys picking up their reading? "Well I don´t really buy books. They are so expensive and my parents don´t want to pay for them. So I think we all more or less rely on the school library and we will all bring a few books that then rotate amongst us," says Rajat. "My parents are encouraging, but I know that others families would prefer them to concentrate on text books and school work instead," adds Ashutosh.
And with the money that they do get and have now, they´d prefer to go out to the movies with friends or just go out for a meal. However, they assure that in the future when they become earners themselves, they will be investing in books.
And what of newspapers and magazines? Well, these boys are pretty much skipping through the pages and straight to the sport and entertainment pages. "I only really look at the sports page," says Samrat. "And I look at the sports and leisure pages," adds Rajat. "Oh and the horoscope of course!" the three recall. As for the news in the papers, "we skim sometimes," they say.
Perhaps an interest in news and current events comes more with age for most. But as long as the general reading culture picks up in Nepal, we can surely expect to see much more well-rounded individuals amongst our society in the future. However, the problem remains that these boys are not in the majority and are contained within a small stimulating environment that promotes the world of print-whether it be papers or fiction and nonfiction.
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