Feature

One Book, One Community
IUB launches its Book Club

The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them. ~ Mark Twain

Sayeda Tun Noor Sameera and Shaiful Islam

If you think that a good book is always a man's best friend, you may encounter raised eyebrows. Books, to many of the young generation, are a necessity of time, and once the necessity is over, so is the need for it. They can instantly offer you some “better than the best” company: chatting, net-surfing, couch-potatoe-ing(!) , regular “addas” etc. Thus, for many of the young men and women studying in colleges and universities in our country reading is much less a hobby or a habit and more a means to the immediate end.

“I've got things to do, prepare assignments, take quizzes, attend all those English classes they make us take. Where's the time?” asks one. “Reading makes me sleepy”, adds another; and, “Books are expensive”, chips in a third sporting a pair of premium denim jeans, threadbare in strategic places. They nod their acne spotted faces pensively, peering at you through TV/computer/Play station dazed eyes.

There are some even wiser souls, who diligently deprive themselves of the “joy of reading” so as not to dilute the pleasure of the movie version for if the book is here can the movie be far behind?

Students, of course, cannot escape from it altogether. They need to read, if not for a class exam, then for an International or a public exam. But for pleasure? Ask any student and they'll give you a litany of their busy schedule.

The English Department of Independent University, Bangladesh, decided it was time; time to address the issue; time to start reading together. On 2 February 2009, the faculty, administration, and students came together in the lounge of the English Department in Baridhara, to launch a Book Club.

It was a cold winter evening but the ambience was warm with the presence of a number of distinguished guests. They included Dr. Bazlul Mobin Chowdhury, Vice Chancellor of IUB, Dr. Omar Rahman, Pro-Vice Chancellor, Dr. Shoaib Ahmed, Treasurer, Dr Tanvir A Khan, Registrar, Ms. Yasmine Z. Mahmud Assoc. Dean and many others.

Dr. Razia Sultana Khan, Head, Department of English, in her opening speech at the launching ceremony, said, “The habit of reading has now become a very neglected one,” She said a book club would provide a platform for teachers, administration and students to get together informally and indulge in intellectual exchange of ideas.

The Vice Chancellor in his address said that reading books, among other intellectual practices, could constantly open new worlds. Prof. Nazrul Islam, Director, School of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, also spoke on the occasion. He observed that today's youths prefer watching movies to reading books. Dr. Tony Stewart, a Fulbright scholar, narrated his personal experience of how he had drifted away from reading books. It was television that took him away from books. Finally, he sold the TVs from all his apartments (North Carolina, London and Dhaka) to manage time for reading books. Dr. Niaz Zaman, Advisor, English Department, recalled how the Reading Circle (A reading club formed by Dr. Niaz Zaman and her friends and students) started and grew in the last three years.

To make the launching colorful and ceremonious the Vice Chancellor, Dr. Bazlul Mobin Chowdhury, cut a large cake.

Membership forms for the book club were circulated with suggestions for the following months. Some of the books suggested were: The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga, Life of Pi by Yann Martel, One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Sea of Poppies by Amitav Ghosh and Onitsha by J.M.G Le Clezio. The general consensus for the first book was One Hundred Years of Solitude by Marquez. The IUB Book Club will meet on the first Sunday of each month.

It is hoped that a healthy growth of readers will allow the IUB Book Club to embrace members from outside the IUB community. Dr. Khan's dream is to see the whole of Dhaka reading One Book with group discussions sprouting in lounges, cafes and restaurants all over the city.

(The writers are Faculty members of Department of English, IUB)