Emran Emon

Recently, there has been a storm of discussion and criticism on social media about a viral photo of giving plates as gifts to students in an educational institution. Netizens are making various comments about it.

Prominent writer, researcher and the editor of the Doinik Feni Arif Rizvy expressed regret by posting the picture on social media Facebook and wrote-- 'When will dishes be stopped as a gift'? His comment is logical.

The culture of giving plates, mugs, bowls, glasses as gifts to students has been prevalent in this country for a long time. But with the evolution of time, culture changes, many things change from time to time.

But to what extent we have been able to transform our dysfunctional culture into an effective one—the question generally arises now. Nowhere else in the world is there a culture of giving crockeries item like ours as gift to students during their educational institutions.

In all the civilized and developed countries of the world, books and educational aids are given as gifts to students. So that the student is motivated by it and it is useful in some part of his educational life.

But it is a matter of great regret that crockeries items are still given as gifts to students in our country.

However, the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education has issued a notification prohibiting the giving of crockeries items such as plates, glasses, mugs as gifts to students.

This notification was issued on April 24, 2019 by the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education. According to the notification, no crockeries items can be given as gifts to the students.

It is not compatible with the learning-teaching activities of the students. Instead of it, age-appropriate quality books or learning aids should be given.

Even though there are government guidelines and notifications about giving crockeries items as gifts, many educational institutions are still ignoring it. Still, many educational institutions give out crockeries items as gifts to students—which is completely illegal.

The concerned department is not seen to take any effective action in this regard. So, despite the government guidelines, it is not being followed in many educational institutions. Considering the overall situation, the question of indifference on the part of the concerned department generally arises.

The habit of reading books is already lost among the present generation. The present generation has forgotten what reading is all about. But the importance of reading books in building a prosperous nation is undeniable.

Our scholars have said a lot about the importance of reading books. René Descartes said, 'To read a good book is to converse with the great men of the last century'.

Oscar Wilde said, 'What a man will become in the future can be determined to a great extent by the kind of books he reads, if not by anything else'. Our poet Rabindranath Tagore said, 'Books are created the bridge between the past and the present'. Omar Khayyam said, 'Bread and wine will run out, darling's black eyes will become dim--books, that's eternal youth'. Napoleon the Great said about the importance of reading books, 'Life is stagnant without at least 60,000 books'.

Books are necessary for life and for the development of human civilization. Books are our best friend in life. If we read books, we can see its effect on life. The benefits of reading books and the reactions we get when we read books.

Books increase the emotional excitement of the reader. According to research, reading books can help reduce, or even prevent, both Dementia and Alzheimer diseases. If the brain is kept active it will never lose its power. Considering the brain as a simple muscle of the body, if it is regularly exercised through the practice of reading books, it remains strong and lively.

Reading books reduce the stress of the reader. People with mental disorders can live a stress-free life if they read good books to get back to normal life. The fun of reading a book is that it instantly transports a person to an unknown world or travels to a time he never imagined. Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay has rightly said, 'He who can take reading books as a companion, the burden and sufferings of his life is reduced a lot.'

Reading books is a brain exercise. Jonathan Swift said, 'Books are children of the brain'. Researchers say that reading a book stimulates the brain's complex cells and the nerves become excited.

While reading, the reader's mind wanders to a different world and can concentrate on the subject matter. In this way, the reader's mental training increases due to various wanderings of the brain through the book.

Vocabulary is enriched by reading books and experience in vocabulary and sentence structure is gained. The more books are read, the more new words are added to the own vocabulary list. As a result, reading books help a lot in vocabulary enrichment.

There is no alternative to reading books to learn a new language. It helps to master any new language very quickly. Many unknown words can be mastered by reading books, which are useful in daily conversation of the reader.

No one is paying attention to the uncreative, spineless generation that is being created today. There is no one to think about the generation, the misery of the generation! But the young generation is an important human resource of a country.

The future of a country depends on the upbringing and care of the young generation.

The culture of giving crockeries items like plates, glasses, mugs as gifts to students in educational institutions should be stopped forever. And let the book be a gift. A great revolution can be made among generation only through books.

The writer is a researcher, journalist & columnist