Home-grown fictions outsell international bestsellers
The quick, pacy and low-priced reads by contemporary Indian authors have become a rage among the Ranchi youths. The book shop owners in the city admit that youngsters prefer a Chetan Bhagat and Ravindra Singh to a Richard Dawkins. Teenagers can relate to the love stories set in metropolitans. Reshma Kumari, a second year student of Ranchi Women's College said, "I love reading Ravindra Singh. The climax of his novel, 'I Too had a Love Story' put me to tears". Nonetheless, there are some who still swear by the foreign authors. Aryan (21) said, "I am buying a Nicolas Sparks book for my sister. I hope she appreciates my choice." S K Jaiswal, owner of an old book store in Tharpakna, said: "The social networking sites have destroyed the habit of reading. The writers usually come up with hackneyed story plots that have clicked with the audience in the past". Hindi translations of famous English novels are also popular here. Amish Tripathy's