The Urdu word KITAAB, does not just mean the ‘written word’, it signifies generations of knowledge, culture, memory, and societies.
The ‘Kitaab’ is indeed the greatest gift bestowed upon humanity.
The literacy rate in India stands at 74.04% as per the census report 2011 and yet where the American reads an average 20000 pages per year, the Indian average stands at a mere 320 pages.
Out of the fraction of Indians who CAN read an even smaller fraction spends time reading for enjoyment.
लोग किताबें पढ़ने को केवल कोर्स की किताबों मात्र तक सीमित रखते हैं, जबकि किताबें पढ़ना एक बेहद शानदार अभिरुचि भी होती है|
इस पहल के माध्यम से हम किताबें पढ़ने की अभिरुचि को स्कूलों, कोलेजों के विद्यार्थियों के बीच बढ़ावा देना चाहते हैं|
हम आर्थिक रूप से कमजोर एवं जरूरतमंद छात्रों को भी किताबें दान करके उनमे भी पढ़ने की इच्छा को जाग्रत करना चाहते हैं|
So where does the problem lie?
The basic problem is that reading habit, in India has never been given importance outside the sphere of education.
We teach our children to read definitely, to read to learn language, read to improve grammar, read to increase knowledge..
..but seldom do our teachers tell them to read..
in order to discover a new world, read to build imagination, read just for pleasure, read for relaxation, read a book just to touch the magic!
Several factors govern the notions of reading in our country.
With low incomes, people are lesser prone to spend money on ‘petty’ novels and storybooks for their children. They are encouraged to swallow textbooks and not waste time in reading fictional accounts.
There exist several NGOs who focus on spreading education, who provide textbooks and writing material, but inculcating reading habit has been sidelined against ‘more important spheres’.
Our Mission-
Kitaab aims at implementing systematic programs by bringing together people who share a passion for reading and branding this love for books.
It is a platform where book lovers can volunteer and do their share in spreading the gift of reading.
If our programs are able to charm even a SINGLE person into building a reading habit, we believe we will have made a difference!
We believe in the dream to see every Indian child engrossed in the colorful landscapes of the written world.
We are building a movement to pull people out of their homes, their dull lives, out of their phones and out of their routines into crazy little adventure books and gnarly old classic books, creepy musty mystery books and bubbly happy funny books.
किताब क्लब में पुस्तक प्रेमी एकत्र होकर विभिन्न प्रकार की सामूहिक गतिविधियां, वार्तालाप, वाद विवाद इत्यादि करते हैं तथा अपने अपने अनुभव एक दुसरे के साथ बांटते हैं |
It is a joy at Kitaab Club to come up with wonderful ideas that can charm people into curling up and reading simply for the joy of it.
Meeting and discussing the latest reads and the classic pieces, to spread what we have all felt.
The joy of disappearing, with only yourself into a world that you have hand-picked from a shelf.