HYDERABAD: He somehow got into Chaitanya Bharathi Institute of Technology (CBIT), one of the top engineering colleges in the city, but failed in all his subjects. He was confused about his carrier, so he started reading — but was not reading academic books. He was reading for pleasure. Books, he believes, has helped him grow. He has travelled to 15 countries and has worked in 10 of them. Meet Raghuram Ananthoj, the founder of city-based initiative Read India Celebration that cultivates the habit of reading and aims to spark independent ideas in the minds of young Indians.
Since 2014, Read India Celebration has been engaging students from various schools and colleges across the country, in a transformative, non-academic reading and leadership experience. The initiative focuses on three main aspects -- read, think and act. It encourages students to pursue reading as a habit that helps them develop an unconventional thought process, diverse opinions and become future leaders.
“All I try and do is make students realise the potential and value of non-academic books for personal growth. Books expose young minds to the ideas, philosophies and practices of some of the greatest minds,” says Raghuram, who also works as a project manager at Dell. He strongly believes that knowledge and creativity are nutrition for the whole being, and not just the mind. “All successful people are successful because they have big ideas.
They have big ideas because they read, think and act towards a successful life. We have around a crore students engaged with us, we keep conducting events and competitions for them regularly. Despite the pandemic, we have got a tremendous response from students across the country,” he says.
There was a time when Raghuram was confused about what he could do in life, until he started to read. “Many students are confused, but are not introduced to non-academic readings. So, they feel lost. I know the feeling of being lost and I don’t want students to feel that way because they have a lot of hidden potential,” he says. Initially, he used to go to schools and colleges after work to give seminars on the importance of reading, but then other readers and academicians joined his journey to make Read India Celebration successful.