Prime Minister Narendra Modi presents the Jnanpith Award to Marathi litterateur Dr Bhalchandra Nemade at Parliament House on Saturday. On the right is Trishla Jain, daughter of Samir Jain, VC & MD of the Times of India Group.

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday made a passionate plea to promote love for books while lamenting the absence of a culture of reading which impedes our understanding of the past and prevents us from effectively dealing with contemporary challenges.“Books are treasure troves of knowledge. They give you the strength to face life,” Modi said. He was speaking as the chief guest of the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the Jnanpith Award which was given to Bhalchandra Nemade , a stalwart of Marathi literature .On an evening when the joy of celebrating the finest in Indian literature was tinged with the grief of the tragedy wrought by a devastating earthquake, the PM regretted that many books remain untouched in libraries for years. “The whole generation is a pupil of Google guru,” he said. He lamented that books don’t sell well, recalling that the first print order of Gujarati books used to be a mere 1,250 copies.“When we talk to an architect, we discuss bathrooms, drawing rooms, a place for puja, even where to keep our shoes. But how many of us have a room for books? And I am not talking about lawyers, whose profession is dependent on books,” he said.In her welcome address, Trishla Jain, daughter of Samir Jain, VC and MD of the Times Group, said that writers do not just reflect our deepest, most human desires and frailties, they also serve as our conscience-keepers.“As a nation, we must facilitate the creation of works that will stand the test of time,” she said, adding that, “the government could provide accommodation, health insurance, railway passes and other such facilities to distinguished writers of undoubted merit, which would liberate them to channelize their creative energies into the pursuit of perfecting their craft, to the benefit of all humanity.”She further said that from the Vedas to Gurudev Rabindranath Thakur’s sterling work, Gitanjali, the beauty and majesty of Indian thought enthralled the world only because of the passion of a few dedicated people, who took upon themselves to translate these magnificent works. “We urge the government to provide translation facilities on a much larger scale, to all deserving writers, so that their works can reach a global audience.”Modi spoke about the Vedas too. “The Vedas had not only discussed the problems of the environment but also provided solutions. This happened in an age when no one had even thought of environmental exploitation. The writer of Vedas would have been a Nemade of his time.”Nemade’s path-breaking novel, Kosla, admired and acclaimed nationwide, has been translated into various languages. More recently, his magnum opus, Hindu, has been hailed as a masterpiece.The Marathi writer received an honorarium of Rs 11 lakh along with a citation, a shawl and the famed bronze Vagdevi Saraswati statuette. Modi joked that Nemade was happy to receive the citation and the statuette but looked slightly uncomfortable receiving the honorarium.“That’s because in our thinking Laxmi (goddess of wealth) and Saraswati (goddess of learning) are two opposites who never meet. But if the country has to progress, it is essential that the two walk in harmony together,” he said.The PM praised the Marathi writer for his outstanding work. He also recalled how he used to read about Jnanpith winners in newspapers with great interest. He praised the Jain family for their outstanding endeavour in the promotion of Indian literature for decades.Modi said that a writer writes because he cannot stop himself from writing. He said that today a computer can be programmed to do some writing. But a computer only knows about “production”. “It doesn’t know anything about creation,” he said.Modi underlined the wisdom and power of ‘kahawats’ (sayings) which are transmitted through centuries. “But the power of literature is thousand times more,” he says.Nemade also praised the Jnanpith, saying there are not many institutions of its calibre. The Jnanpith winner emphasised the diversity of Indian culture pointing out, “There are seven dialects and five languages spoken in my village.” He added, “I shall always be committed to write what is right.”He said that India has one of the oldest and richest living literary traditions. We are constantly “borrowing” and “reforming” ourselves and are experts in adapting, he said. “The more we change, the more we remain the same – that’s the magic of Indian culture,” he said.He said that both Shakespeare and Premchand were great “desi” writers but one had the advantage of an empire and the other did not. Nemade said acculturation has taken away the creativity from our literature. “We will have to reverse acculturation,” he said.