'#MyBookMyFriend' campaign': Celebrities post books they are reading

NEW DELHI: Film star Amitabh Bachchan is reading Talking to my Daughter by Greek economist, Yanis Varoufakis. Fellow actor Shraddha Kapoor is reading The Secret Principles of Genius by I C Robledo, and Rajkumar Rao is reading the biography of the great Leonardo da Vinci.

Kiren Rijiju, minister of youth affairs and sports and minister of minority affairs has also posted on Twitter, pictures of himself reading Go!, The Winning Attitude by Jeff Keller, Dreams Of A Billion - India and the Olympics Games by Boria Majumdar and Nalin Mehta. Recommending the books, he has tweeted, “it's a must read for every athlete for regular motivation and better success!”

They have all posted which book is capturing their interest during the ongoing lockdown days on Twitter with the hashtag #MyBookMyFriend.

All this book sharing is a response to the #MyBookMyFriend campaign that was launched by the union minister of human resource and development Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ on April 23 for celebrating the World Book Day.

Launching the campaign on Twitter on the World Book Day, as people stayed confined to their homes during lockdown, the HRD minister had said in the video: “There could be no better friend, better strength, better motivator, better mentor than books.”

Encouraging everyone to utilize their time under lockdown by reading and learning from inspirational books, he had asked citizens and celebrities in different fields to share the book they are reading and their views on social media with the hashtag '#MyBookMyFriend', over the next seven days.

The minister posted a picture of himself reading Geeta Maata by Mahatma Gandhi. Sharing his views about the book, he said: “The knowledge one derives from this book is a wonderful confluence of devotion and duty.”

The minister tweeted on his official Twitter handle,

आज से शुरू हुए #MyBookMyFriend अभियान के तहत आप सभी अगले 7 दिनों तक मुझे अपनी पुस्तक के बारे में अवगत करवा सकतें हैं। आपकी पहल से लोगों में किताबें पढ़ने की प्रेरणा मिलेगी।#WorldBookDay

— Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank (@DrRPNishank) April 23, 2020

The HRD minister had invited Nirmala Sitharaman, Piyush Goyal, Smriti Irani, Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Shraddha Kapoor, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Sadhguru, Prasoon Joshi, Mary Kom, Kiren Rijiju and many other celebrities to share what they are reading.

Following the minister's request, several celebrities have since posted about the books they are reading on social media.

Rijiju tweeted,

Happy #WorldBookDay !
मानव संसाधन विकास मंत्री @DrRPNishank जी के आग्रह पर मैं वह पुस्तकें दिखा रहा हूँ जो मैं पढ़ रहा हूँ और भारत के प्रत्येक खिलाड़ी से इसे पढ़ने का आग्रह करता हूँ।
This book is a must read for every athlete for regular motivation and better success! https://t.co/2mz1Y74a61 pic.twitter.com/5PnHm35727

— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) April 23, 2020

Prahlad Singh Patel, minister of culture and tourism tweeted that he is reading Letters of Maharishi Arvind, parts two and three.

Sanjay Dhotre, Minister of State for HRD, Communications, Electronics and IT, wrote he is reading Rebooting India by Nandan Nilekani.

Many celebrities from the film industry posted pictures of books they are reading. Prasoon Joshi, poet-songwriter and screenwriter posted about Solitude by Anthony Starr; Chunky Panday wrote about Ian Fleming's Casino Royale.

Amish Tripathi, known for his Shiva trilogy novels, posted that he is reading The Greatest Ode to Lord Ram by Pavan K Varma.

Many other citizens also posted about the books they are reading in response to HRD minister's #MyBookMyFriend campaign.

Also read:

• COVID-19: Academic plan after meeting with states, says HRD Minister
• HRD minister launches '#MyBookMyFriend' campaign on World Book Day

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