Indian students are obsessed with reading for an exam. It is one of the primary reasons for the sharp fall in leisure reading as children reach middle school. With time, kids begin preparing for quizzes and competitive exams. Inevitably the exams will have a section reserved for general knowledge and/or India specific information. For years now, yearbooks like this one published by Manorama are exceedingly popular. At one time or the other of our student life — school and university—we have consulted and committed to memory large chunks of this yearbook, hoping to clear many of the multiple choice question papers. And it works. The Manorama Yearbook is one of the few comprehensive information digests that are easy to glean information from. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised to see the current 2021edition even has a literary section, and a pretty decent one too!

8 Jan 2021