Speaking at a three-day international conference on “Literacy Through Literature”, Tharoor touched upon different aspects of literature and its close association with literacy levels in the country.
One of the elements he passionately spoke about was the undermined status of comic books in India.
“Reading is important for many reasons and we always need to enrich because it transforms our lives. Reading comics at an early age helps in building this foundation,” he said.
“Usually, comic books are sneered at, but they help in understanding a subject easily because of graphics and pictorial representation. We have grossly undermined the value of comic books,” he added.
He credited his mother with encouraging him to be open to different kinds of literature during his formative years that have invariably shaped his reading habits.
