�鶹��

Available for over a year

Good morning. Today - the first Thursday of March - is World Book Day. Around the country, many Harrys & Hermiones, Peter Rabbits and Gangsta Grannies are traipsing off to school. Dressing up to celebrate a favourite book character is an engaging way to celebrate the fun of reading, though some people worry that the selling of outfits in supermarkets may be distracting kids and parents from spending time and money on actual books. For many years, my children demanded bedtime stories from what we called the ‘big red book’. This was the Puranic Encyclopaedia, a huge volume containing summary biographies of almost every personality mentioned within the Hindu scriptures. Some stories were rather earthy and required careful paraphrasing for young ears. Most evenings, we often found ourselves in ardent debate: How did that happen? Why did they do that? The beauty of these Vedic stories was they didn’t try to impose rules or dogma or tell our children how to live; rather, together, we were exploring the ways in which we might choose to live. Reading opens minds not only to the world around us, but to ideas and realms that are beyond what we can ever experience. I was impressed with Professor Brian Green speaking on this programme yesterday when he said: “For many, religion helps us to … explore the inner world of conscious awareness; and that deep spiritual quest… is a vital part of figuring out how we fit into the cosmic whole.” Books do the same, I think, particularly the sacred. This is why many Hindus treasure the texts collectively known as the Vedas which offer not just knowledge of the practicalities of life in this world - lifestyle, health, ethics, politics and so on – but also a vision of our existence beyond this short sojourn of one life-time. Hindus believe that the cosmos has a source, a supreme sentient being. And, God, being the reservoir of all knowledge disseminates facets of that knowledge throughout human society; not just within one tradition, but to all places and cultures down through the ages. And, this wisdom is being further enriched, say the texts, by the realisations and insights of each person who explores and discusses the ideas with others. I think World Book Day is a reminder for parents to lead by example, to be seen enjoying reading and to spend time curled up with their kids and a good book. Every story can be fascinating and deserve deep discussion. This sharing of words and ideas builds our relationship with each other and with the worlds we aspire to discover.