Reading in Public

One of the biggest differences you will notice between train/bus journeys in India vs. America is that in India no one, even on long journeys, seems to be reading. I have never been on a train in India where I’ve seen more than and elderly man or two reading a newspaper, nor have I seen a book (in any language) other than the several I tend to bring along with me (I have a bit of an OCD-type thing about always having one or two books with me). I have a bit of difficulty understanding why this is as India is a pillar (along with Britain and America) of the English-speaking literary world. The biggest names have made it into the American literary conversation- Salman Rushdie, Amitav Ghosh, Vikram Seth, Arundhati Roy, Anita and Kiran Desai (Mother-Daughter), Aravind Adiga, etc. etc. -and there is no reason to believe that Indian fiction will slow down anytime soon. Where then are the great readers who turn into these great writers? Having studied for a semester at an Indian university I know that things are different on campus as opposed to being out in public. Reading in public on university campuses, or at least the one I studied at, seems to be commonplace. Is reading a more private thing in India than it is in America? I’m inclined to believe so, but perhaps it is still best to eliminate a few other possibilities using deductive reasoning:

It can’t be because books are too expensive. Not only are new books often heavily subsidized (I buy paperbacks that cost 14-16 dollars in America for the equivalent of five dollars here at bookstores), but illicit copying of books and selling them is a very common practice. Used bookstalls can be found in major cities everywhere in India, often selling for less than two dollars. Two-Five dollars is not outside the price range of the Indian middle class.

It can’t be for lack of interest. There is, sadly, little interest in American literature. However, there is plenty of interest in Indian and British literature. I’m convinced that, having been to dozens of bookstores throughout India, every Indian who can read English has read at least one of British humorist P.G. Wodehouse’s works. Even if there is very little foreign literature in a bookstore there will always be a shelf of Wodehouse’s novels. The English classes that I took at the University of Hyderabad were evidence, if anecdotal, of a vibrant culture of English literary scholarship.

It can’t be due to illiteracy. Illiteracy is still a larger issue in India than it is in the west. However, people who can afford to travel in the more expensive A/C classes of Indian trains will (generally) not be among the illiterate.

The more I think about it, the more I believe that reading is just a more private affair in India than it is in America. Transportation in India seems to be much more of a social event than it is in America. You will never experience the self-enforced silences on trains and buses here that are common in the States. As far as people here are concerned there is no such thing as a “silent” or “vibrate” mode on trains. People talk, and they talk a lot. You will often find yourself (unwillingly, but you get used to it) watching an Indian movie on some neighbor’s laptop because sharing headphones is also not a concept here. India is not a place that is not conducive to keeping to yourself in public and I think that, unlike me, Indians don’t try to fight this reality.