Where are the true book-readers?: Javed Akhtar

In the middle of a bustling Indian book bazaar at the London Book Fair, India’s most famous film lyricist said the culture of reading books is disappearing in India.

“That’s the real issue, but nobody here is talking about it,” an animated Javed Akhtar said on the sidelines of the fair.

“Do you know how books are selected in some of the homes in my city of Mumbai? They are chosen by interior decorators... by interior decorators! If you have brown-coloured furniture and carpet, you must have brown-coloured books,” the award-winning poet said.

Akhtar is a leading member of a contingent of 50 Indian writers and 90 publishers that has come to the British capital to attend the London Book Festival, which has an India market focus this year.

But while some here have stressed the booming Indian publishing industry, Akhtar said there was also a “sad story” of disappearing languages and book-reading habits, which are being rapidly subsumed by English and television.

“Urdu publishing, to the best of my knowledge, is dying out,” he said.

“There was a time when there were so many brilliant lyricists and poets in Mumbai — Majrooh, Sahir, Rajinder Krishen, Shailendra...But today, the poets of the past have been replaced by non-poets. So, it’s not only in Urdu but also in Hindi. That’s the real tragedy.”

But Akhtar said he expects his interactions with other writers in London, as well as the fair’s writing-centred events, will give him inspiration.

“In Mumbai, I end up spending far too much time writing for films. At the end of the day it’s the same well from which we draw the water — whether to write film songs or poetry. I am hoping that after meeting people here, I will be able to draw from that well to write some more poetry,” he said.