With the number of positive coronavirus cases growing each day, it doesn’t seem like the outbreak is going to end anytime soon. This is why it is even more important to practice social-distancing and stay indoors as much as you can–the only way to stop the spread of COVID-19 is to avoid catching it in the first place. With India under complete lockdown, most citizens are now bound indoors till April 14. And while not being able to step out might make you feel anxious and restless, there’s plenty of ways you can enjoy this time at home.
If you’re bored of binge-watching shows on the web (honestly, how many episodes can one watch in a day?), there’s another activity that will engage your mind. Remember reading? The good ‘ol era when we used to read books to stay entertained instead of mindlessly staring at screens for hours? Well, you should get back to it–and you don’t even need to buy new books, because the National Book Trust has come to our rescue!
Keeping in mind the complete country-wide lockdown, the NBT decided to provide its select and best-selling titles for free download to encourage reading during the period. The NBT is an autonomous body under the Human Resource Development ministry, and they have made over 100 books available for download on their website as part of the #StayHomeIndiaWithBooks initiative.
“Available in Hindi, English, Asamiya, Bangla, Guajarati, Malayalam, Odia, Marathi, Kokborok, Mizo, Bodo, Nepali, Tamil, Punjabi, Telugu, Kannada, Urdu and Sanskrit, the books cover all genres of fiction, biography, popular science, teacher’s handbook, and majorly books for children and young adults,” a senior HRD Ministry official said.
“In addition, there are books by Tagore, by Premchand, and books on Mahatma Gandhi — all in all there are books for everyone in the family to read and enjoy. More titles will be added to the list,” the official added.
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What kind of books can you download from the NBT website? Some of the available titles include Holidays Have Come, Animals You can’t Forget, Nine Little Birds, The Puzzle, Gandhi Tatva Satkam, Women Scientists in India, Activity-Based Learning Science, A Touch of Glass, Gandhi: Warrior of Non-Violence, and many more.
So find a comfy corner at home, light some candles, grab a cup of your favourite hot beverage, snuggle up with your pet and take advantage of the free books offered by the NBT while they’re still available. If you want to make things fun, you can start a virtual book club with your friends or a daily reading challenge. Make the most of this time indoors!
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