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What are we reading anyway?

In such dire times, the incessant social media discourse and the flurry of think pieces on a New Yorker short story gives me immense hope for the world

Photo: istock
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Photo: istock

J Jagannath
My eternal gripe with the smartphone age is that collective humanity seems to have taken a secret vow to not read anything anymore. Tl;dr (too long; didn't read) increasingly looks like the motto of all of us smartphone-toting people. Publications are pivoting to video and it makes sense because studies say an average human being checks his phone at least 150 times a day. Binge-watching is a badge of honour, while binge-reading seems like an archaic practice these days, like having a Rediff mail account.

In such dire times, the incessant social media discourse and the flurry of think pieces on