In this conversational promo segment, two hosts discuss the nature of reading and libraries, contrasting reading as a leisurely, playful activity with the traditional view of reading as a virtuous, prescribed duty. They note how library spaces often enforce silence, while some facilitators promote a more playful atmosphere. The dialogue moves to cultural and developmental differences, observing that leisure reading is more common in developed societies where time is allocated for such activities, whereas in developing contexts reading is often deprioritized. They also reflect on how the awareness of an audience can warp a writer’s authentic expression, sometimes leading to hesitation to share work. The conversation shifts to personal legacy, with one speaker expressing a desire for poetry to be recognized as a powerful, legislative force and contemplating what epitaphic words might represent their values. The tone is informal, reflective, and interspersed with Hindi-English code‑switching, revealing personal insights and broader societal observations.
Chapters
And she said one thing which has stayed with me for like— yeah, it'll stay with me. She said that, um, you have an interesting inner world. Telling her once, sometimes I feel that I don't just have my eyes, but I'm wearing yours also sometimes when I'm looking at certain things. Yeah, I think that's probably what— there was a scene in one book which was very imprinted because we also as facilitators read librarian stories, and one of the inspiring stories was how a librarian, she had sort of changed the notion of libraries and she was taking down the silence please board. So in our library there was never silence, which was something you might invite. It was always playfulness alongside learning, reading, playing, whatever. Yeah, like reading as a leisure. We नहीं देखा जाता है या फिर देखा जाता था या even children are not you know initially made to feel or have the choice कि what could reading reading mean to me it's always told actually yeah and this is how it should be something related to पढ़ाई something like a virtuous thing that's where maybe we pick up how everyone likes to maybe mention कि I'm into reading I or someone when someone says that they will they look at me किशवाल सिंह कि maybe I'm not so interested in reading or some there is some Virtuous or dogmatic ideas around even reading, reading how the act should be.
Yeah, it's always been prescribed. And even like the libraries are curated in a way that you only have access to things that are considered virtuous, as you said. Um, in London, I see around, I would say, 30 to 40% people in the tube, in the metro, read books, uh, like either on the Kindle or their books. And like now that you said it, I just thought about when I used to travel in the metro in Delhi, I would read books anyway, but there'd be so less people who read books. They'd either just be on their phones or I don't know what they do if they're not on their phone or on their books. They're just sitting, looking, staring at walls and other people. But at the same time, I think leisure is also luxury, and I think it reflects in the development aspect of it. Like, developing countries don't encourage reading as a leisurely activity as much because you don't have time for it. There's no space for it. You have to continue to evolve and produce, and there's no time for fun. And that way, I think people in developed countries find that time and fight it back from, from the society to be able to engage in leisure.
Uh, this sharing out with the world, uh, it does warp our sense of expression some— in some ways. We would want to write for, yeah, how it will be seen and received, uh, and that sometimes, yeah, takes away the joy in writing itself, why we write and how we would want to express. Very true. That's why I— that's one of the reasons that becomes like an excuse for not sharing something. Like, I want to not Let this go. So I'm going to keep on writing just for the sake of writing. And then yeah, देखते हैं कभी एक बार.
If you if you were to die and if you get a grave for yourself or like a monumental place, whatever that would have some words written for you, what would you like those words to be?
I'm not sure yet.
I'm sure we wouldn't be until because it will continue to evolve. But if there any that come to your mind, send me message.
Yeah, maybe there's something at the end of— yeah, poetry only. Yeah, sometimes I do attribute a lot to— I like to exaggerate and believe in its power to do a lot of things. There was one essay and I liked that, um, I was surprised in the first place that UPSC has asked it, and it had the title, um, Poets Are the Unacknowledged Legislators of the World, something like that. Like, wow. So that is the sentiment. And I don't know, sometimes I feel I would like to underscore wherever, in whatever capacity, go and be the best advocate of poetry. And something about, yeah, please, please, please do this, please look at this, please never let this go away. It's much more into your reach than you think it is. Yeah, something of that sort, maybe. Yeah.
