Hyderabad: Chief Justice of the Supreme Court NV Ramana urged young people to develop the habit of reading books and writing letters rather than sending brief messages that lack language and emotion.
Speaking at the 34th Hyderabad Book Fair’s valedictory session on December 28, he recalled his college days and how his father used to write letters to him. “They used to be quite transparent about how they were in serious financial difficulty. The letters were meant to assist parents to communicate their sentiments to their children.”
He said that many national leaders were imprisoned and did not sit inactively. They used to read a lot of books, and some of them had even published books on different topics.
Jawaharlal Nehru used to write letters to his daughter Indira Gandhi during the liberation fight, which she read since they were written by her father. “It’s past time to restore this culture,” he said.
Chief Justice Ramana recommended parents develop in their children the habit of reading books. He recalled purchasing books from Navodaya and Vishalandhra publishers in Koti.
“Instead of using mobile phones, youngsters should learn to hold books and read them in order to get good knowledge.” The chief justice stated that he reads a book anytime he has free time. “Reading books has gotten more difficult as my duties have grown. It is difficult to handle a book after reading paper books of 30-40 cases in detail every day, yet I have not stopped collecting books. I buy any nice book; it has grown into a large collection. Books will remain, my friends, even when I retire.”
He emphasised the importance of having a library and a playground in schools. “When we used to study—in little and old buildings—we had to have a library and a playground. We got a lot of help from our school library because we used to read books there every day.
No one is adhering to the norm of having a library and a playground. This is a severe issue that the government should address,” he remarked.
