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Webinar On “The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective Readers” By Amrut Deshmukh – 8th May 2021

Universal Group of Institutions, Bangalore is organizing a webinar on “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Readers” By Amrut Deshmukh.

Date: 8 May 2021
Time: 11AM – 12:30PM

Amrut Deshmukh, a social entrepreneur is on a mission to cultivate the habit of reading among the youth of our country through his Make India Read. An avid reader from childhood, he is determined to share his inspiration with the world. His passion led him to start the only successful Indian start-up with no external funding or venture capital. Presently he has over 17 lakh readers who are enthusiastically reading books with him on his free mobile app ‘Booklet’. Hence, he is popularly known as the Booklet Guy. He is also a TED talk speaker and author of “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Readers”. He was awarded the ‘Youth Icon 2020’ award.

As an educational institution seeking to impart holistic development, we believe that a strong reading habit is imperative for teachers. An effective teacher makes a difference in the success of their students by encouraging students to read.  Classrooms can be effective when teachers act as role models and inculcate reading habits among students.

Hurry up!! Register now.

Registration link:
https://forms.gle/KweB351ET5LNJF4F7

E-certificate will be provided to all the registered participants who have attended the session and filled the feedback form.

Summary Of The Webinar

Universal Group of Institutions organized a webinar especially for teachers, administrators and staff on the topic “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Readers”. The webinar was held on 8^th May 2021 (Saturday) at 11am. The speaker for the day was Mr. Amrut Deshmukh. The webinar was conducted on zoom with around 400 participants. The session being open to teaching, non-teaching staff and students, witnessed participation from various states such as Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, etc.

The webinar in addition to the students emphasized on the participation of teaching faculties. As an institution imparting holistic education, we believe that a strong reading habit is imperative for teachers. An effective teacher makes a difference in the success of their students by encouraging students to read.

The MC for the day was Ms. Rubina Pradhan, Assistant Professor – Political Science. Ms. Rubina welcomed the gathering and introduced the guest to the participants.

Introducing him, she said that Mr. Amrut Deshmukh is also popularly known as ‘The Booklet Guy’ as he is the founder of free mobile app called ‘Booklet’. He is on a mission to cultivate reading habit amongst the youth of India. The average reading speed of most of us is 150 words per minute and it is commendable that he reads 1200 words per minute. Today he reads 1 book a day and has read more than 1480 books. Adding to his achievement and contribution, he is also a TED® talk speaker and has been awarded “Youth Icon 2020”. He is also an author of the book, “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Readers.” His is the only successful Indian start-up without any external funding. It is totally a self-funded social start-up.

After the introduction, Chairman of the Institution, Mr. Upendra R Shetty shared his thought on how important reading is for the students as well as for the teachers. He ended with an inspiring quote by Nelson Mandela and welcomed Mr. Amrut to share his thought.

The speaker, Mr. Amrut then took over the session. The speaker began by narrating the story of his mission. He called himself as an outdated chartered accountant. With the burden of three failed start-ups, he began his mission, ‘Make India Read’. While touring around the world, he faced several recurring questions from audience related to books and reading habits. So he decided to write a book based on his experience of reading 1480 books. The outcome of his efforts was The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Readers. The title was inspired by the book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey.

The speaker then goes on to discuss the 7 Habits mentioned in his book:

1. Don’t take reading too seriously: Mr. Amrut pointed out that by taking reading too seriously we often dampen the spirit of reading. Instead of holding ourselves responsible for not reading a book completely, he asks to transfer the onus or responsibility of keeping the readers engaged to the author.
2. Fill in the time-pockets: It is a common complaint that people don’t read due to lack of time. The speaker discusses that there is no ‘right’ time to read. In any given day every individual would have time-pockets that would usually go unproductive. It is in these gaps that one should read. And for this to materialize, one has to always carry a book along with them.
3. Read Random: He says that whenever he is stuck in life, he read random. Randomness gives birth to innovation. Irrespective of genre, one should be able to derive ideas from reading wide variety of books.
4. Get the Big Picture – Reading usually becomes a rigorous process when we are fixated with rules such as to read each and every word and not to proceed without understanding. He argues that while reading a book, the outcome is to derive major ideas from the book rather than to concentrate on details.
5. Read and Discuss – A common question is how to remember everything we read? The author says that while reading a book or after completing it, discussing the book with friends or family would help us to retain the ideas.
6. Read and pass it on – When we discuss a book we turn tangible asset to intangible assets. We give them life by carrying them in our hearts and minds. The author says that there cannot be a worst crime than preserving books on a book-shelf.
7. The Secret Habit – All the above 6 habits are prerequisite for the 7th habit. Reading is an evolutionary process and it happens gradually over the period of time.

This was followed by the Q&A session. The session turned out to be very interactive session. The participants were very inquisitive to know how they could improve their reading speed, how to inculcate reading habits, etc. Many UPSC aspirants also posed some questions regarding being consistent in reading subjects as they have to read continuously. The speaker replied to all the questions politely and encouraged and motivated students as well as teachers to inculcate the reading habits gradually.

The major takeaways from the session from inspiring narration to witty jokes were also the books he mentioned. Some of them are:

1. Discover your Destiny from the Monk who sold his Ferrari: The 7 stages of self-awakening by Robin Sharma
2. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People – Stephen Covey
3. The Speed Reading Book – Tony Buzan
4. Who will cry when you Die – Robin Sharma.

The session ended by vote of thanks by the Principal, Mr. Vishwas Puttaswamy.