Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, March 17: A group of 30 avid readers, comprising of research scholars who mostly did their MA in English, lecturers, students, budding writers, etc, will meet March 21 at the Utkal University campus to do what they love most to do – read. The third novel of prof. Dharanidhar Sahu, The Prince in Disguise, will be read.
The journey of this book club, ARIEL, an initiative of prof Himanshu S Mahapatra, HOD English, Utkal University, began on November 18, 2011. ARIEL stands for ‘ardent readers and interpreters of English literature’. There were only 15 members in this reading group at the beginning. Now there are around 30 members, who also view films apart from reading classics of literature.
Since its inception in 2011, the group has met 10 times for reading and 4 times for film viewing. The reading and viewing sessions are followed by animated and intense discussions. Many distinguished writers and critics have also attended these group discussions.
Talking to Orissa Post, Prof Himanshu Mahapatra said, “The main idea behind forming the group was to promote good literature and reading activities among readers. We select books which are of some topical interest and which are either classics or contemporary classics and should probably be mandatory readings for everybody but are not included in courses of studies. These books have to be part of the reading list of every student; they can’t afford to miss these. To encourage students to take up reading in an intense way we keep on alternating between classics and contemporary books.
“Occasionally we break the (reading) rhythm to watch a good movie or select the video/audio of an important talk given by a major writer somewhere. In our last meeting we listened to a talk delivered at the Oxford University by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, a Nigerian writer, on ‘The danger of a single story’, which was followed by a discussion,” said Prof Mahapatra. To motivate those who write, we are planning to start special sessions so that they can read their own works that can be discussed, he added.
Shiridhi Dash, a 2nd semester student of English said, “I think the group is promoting literature at a different level; promoting pleasure reading is very rare and ARIEL is rightfully doing that. So far I have attended three sessions and really enjoyed reading books not included in syllabus and the discussions that followed the reading.”
This book club assumes greater significance among readers who love classics because these days most of the young readers confine themselves to reading works of the likes of Chetan Bhagat or Durjoy Datta. “I am very fond of reading books; the group is a platform for book lovers who are more inclined to reading good books. Being a student of literature, it is very important to read good books and not to be confined to the books included in the courses only. Moreover, these days most of us read books of Chetan Bhagat or Dhurjoy Datta, which are basically commercial books and we do not get a chance to read classics,” said Lagna Mohanty, final year student of the English Department.
For people like Sanjib Sahoo, convener ARIEL, the book club has opened a new chapter, as he was steadily moving away from reading. “I was so busy with my day- to-day life that I hardly got any chance to read books; I also realised that my gradual distancing from reading as a recreational activity was adversely affecting my day-t- day affairs of life. I came to know about the formation of a reading group called ARIEL through my friends and joined the group when I got an invitation to join it,” he said.
So far the group has reads books likes Beowulf, The Three Theban plays, The Frogs, The Trojan Women, The Brothers Karamazov, Letters to a young poet, The Bear Came Over the Mountain among others and has watched films like The Help, The King’s Speech, The Devil Wears Prada, Vertigo, Murder on the Orient Express, among others.