Saturday, April 19, 2014

P for paper



Call me old fashioned but I would rather read a book made of paper held in my hand than read the same content on a tablet or kindle. The feeling of holding the page between your fingers as you read the book, pausing a while before flipping it as you continue your read is something that is out of the world. If it is a new book, the paper feels very smooth and somewhat crisp and in case of a book that has passed through many hands, the paper feels different, worn out in a way. There is a distinct smell of new books and a typical moist odor when the book has been re-read umpteen times. In case of e-books, this sense of smell and touch is missing and makes the reading experience a tad incomplete. 

Same goes with writing, the satisfaction I get when I scribble on paper with a pen or pencil in my hand is absent when I type the same on my laptop or cellphone. Not that I have a beautiful handwriting or anything, my writing is fairly neat and legible. It is just that it feels more complete when you feel the paper while you put down your thoughts. Yes, I know and agree that we need to minimize wastage of paper for ecological reasons. I only hope that the future generations too get a chance to savor the experience of reading from paper they can feel and writing on it with a pen in their hand. Technology and time have revolutionized  a great many things and simplified life, but at the same time they have taken away simple pleasures and added invisible complexities in our everyday existence.


This post is shared with April A-Z blogging challenge for alphabet P

10 comments:

  1. You are correct. Reading a real book and writing on a paper has become thing of the past.

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  2. I agree with you. Writing and reading has become so rare these days.

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    1. Thanks Rama, I hope the future generations don't forget it all together.

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  3. Yes Reshma the satisfaction which we get when we hold a book and read cannot be substituted with books on line.

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  4. I agree with the first para. I do not like reading ebooks, and always pray that paperbacks never go into extinction.

    However, about the 2nd stanza, I do not use pen and paper. I am more a MS Word person :-)

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    1. Changing times make us move away from paper and yes Amrit I too use MS word, but the joy I get when I scribble on paper is something I cannot describe :)

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  5. I was all for reading a paper book till a few months ago. And then I discovered the Kindle app on my phone and I simply loved the experience. I am equally comfortable reading an ebook now. Yes, writing is a lost form now-a-days.

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    1. Great going Shilpa...I too read on kindle now for I cannot afford to store books in my new home but I would rather hold a paper version sigh!!

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