Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam who was an Indian aerospace scientist, statesman and served as the 11th president of India from 2002 to 2007 had rightly said that "Learning gives creativity, creativity leads to thinking, thinking provides knowledge and knowledge makes you great". So to be great we have to read in order to learn. Reading is a good skill to get knowledge and skills necessary to live successfully in this high competitive world of materialism and consumerism. Reading not only provides us with knowledge and information, it develops in us the skills to live a happy and successful life on this planet. It creates the drives in our mind to understand the problems which our nation is facing to devise their solutions. It is a fact that the great leaders of the world had always been the great readers. It was reading that made them able to understand the state of affairs of their times and come up with broad range of solutions to help their nations in development and growth. The importance of reading has increased in our time due to the significance and power of knowledge. As it is said that "Knowledge Is Power". Since the goal of every country is to become more developed and powerful so all countries are focussing on building sound educational systems to make their citizens more knowledgeable i.e. powerful. A nation whose citizens are highly educated is also powerful as its citizens take up different fields of profession based on different fields of knowledge like science, technology, business, medicine, military, journalism, engineering, space etc. Such educated citizens then develop the power of their nation in all such fields of profession. Hence the country grows both in development and power. If it is said that "Power and development go hand in hand in today's world" then it will not be wrong.
In the academic and technical fields a student who reads the books of his relevant field besides the books covering his syllabus not only shines bright in his examinations but also in the profession which he later takes in his career as well. A student who is a good reader is able to face the problems of his life very efficiently because reading develops in him enough intellect and maturity to handle challenges. Every student who is a good reader is a potential good leader. So more the readers of your nation, more the potential leaders of your nation. In the leadership arena reading has tremendous significance. A leader whether of a political, religious, social or economic organisation with good reading skills is aware of the state of affairs of his society and guides his people based on ground reality. He recommends result oriented solutions to the challenges which his fellow people and society is facing. He avoids emotional slogans and steps to let his people not to fall victim to "Harsh Actions, Harsh Reactions". A leader through reading skills finds opportunities in all circumstances. Reading is also necessary to remain aware of the events unfolding at local, national and global level. By reading newspapers, magazines, journals etc. one gets a lot of information and news about developments from the whole world. Readers especially those who are interested in international relations are able to predict the course of events and analyse the situation thoroughly. These are the advantages of reading. While knowledge is truly power reading is the best source of this power. We should develop reading culture in our homes, schools, libraries, offices etc. to remain learned and pave the way for the emergence of intellectuals, scientists, analysts, philosophers and scholars in our society. The recent surge of book reading habit in Kashmir and publication of books by young Kashmiri authors is a welcome sign and step in this process. Efforts are needed more from the administrative officials and leaders of religious organisations to inculcate the reading culture in our youth and children so that the future of our society is more bright and opportune. Let's all start towards reading by reading a book itself.
The author devotes this article to APJ Abdul Kalam who wanted the youth of India to read learn and think creatively in order to build their nation great and strong as only strong readers can become strong builders of nation.

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