Chennai Students Choose Books Over Endless Scrolling

"I scroll for six hours a day," admitted 21-year-old Subbu Karuppayee Bhavani with a laugh. "But the satisfaction I get after reading a chapter or two is far more."

Her confession echoed across The Hindu Lit for Life festival in Chennai, where hundreds of young people under 30 spent their weekend choosing books over their phones. They rushed between sessions, waited in long signing lines, and left with bags full of new reads and lighter spirits.

For many, reading offers something social media can't. "When you're watching something, everything is already pre-made for you," said Dinesh, 21, who's been reading James Clavell's Shōgun. "With books, you imagine the entire scene yourself. You cast your own actors, choose their faces and colors."

Radha Ragamalika, a literature student, uses books as a different kind of escape. "We use social media as escapism, but I also use books to escape," she said. "They exercise the mind in a different way."

Some readers stumbled into their latest literary obsessions by accident. Subbu discovered James Baldwin's essays only because her roommate borrowed a library book in her name and forgot to return it. Now she's hooked on literary essays after months buried in academic reading.

Why This Inspires

These young readers aren't abandoning technology. They're choosing balance. Law students Maryum Ameen and Hari Roopan use fiction to understand the human stories behind legal cases. Medical students in the Stanley Literary Society gather to discuss everything from fantasy to Japanese tragedy.

The festival also sparked curiosity about local writers. Subbu picked up Tamil author Kalki's works beyond his famous Ponniyin Selvan. Radha chose Imayam's A Woman Burnt in translation to explore Tamil literature in a new way.

Pranuthy, 20, picked up Andaleeb Wajid's Learning to Make Tea for One based purely on the title. "It feels like it will hit, and then heal," she said, holding the physical book in her hands.

Radha admits she still drifts to her phone constantly. But festivals like this remind her why reading matters: "Places where people are constantly talking about books and ideas bring me back."