“Mental Diet Is as Important as Physical Diet”: National Book Trust Director Yuvraj Malik on Reading Culture in India

Just like a healthy diet supports our body, the right mental diet is also very important for the development of our mind and creativity, stated Yuvraj Malik, director of the National Book Trust, at a 'Mee Lekhak Honarach' workshop held at Savitribai Phule Pune University, on Saturday. He added that the kind of reading, writing, and thinking one does is what actually determines their outlook and creativity, and he therefore invited the budding writers to be selective about the literature they consume.

Organised as a four, day event, the workshop brought together the National Book Trust, Savitribai Phule Pune University, and Samarth Yuva Foundation, with a shared intention of motivating the youth to take up writing as a regular habit and making them aware of the power of writing by understanding its role in making history and changing society. Place- based learning and interactive activities, with listening and speaking techniques, were some of the tools which helped to illustrate that writing is an art, and that one's observing powers and literary knowledge can be used to good effect in national development.

Malik shared a 10+1+1 formula10 pages of reading, 1 page of writing, and 1 minute of speaking daily, an effective method to build a robust literary identity. He pointed out that without facts, statements are just words, so he motivated the students to focus on doing research and writing based on it.

 "The better the content we consume, the better we produce," he remarked, recommending a selection of books for young writers.

ng young authors, and encouraged students to harness their creativity without fear of judgment. "You can transform society through writing. Never crush your creative instincts," he advised.

Vice chancellor Dr Suresh Gosavi praised the Pune Book Festival for fostering a reading culture and highlighted the workshop’s role in preparing new writers. “Such initiatives help students improve their comprehension and research-based writing skills,” he said.

The event also featured the launch of Dr Sadanand Bhosale’s poetry collection 'Main Zinda Hoon', followed by an engaging discussion on literary pursuits.