Students leaf through religious books at a store in Bhubaneswar. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, Feb. 17: Youngsters looking to escape tension and anxiety seem to have found the answer at the ongoing Bhubaneswar Book Fair here.

While reading itself is considered an effective method of relaxation, several teenagers and young adults are making a beeline for books on spirituality and religion to bust stress.

Remarkably, stalls selling books and CDs on eastern philosophy, Hinduism, Vedic culture, yoga and so on, have attracted many young buyers.

“In a stressful lifestyle, the younger generation needs some kind of motivation to get going. Perhaps these books serve as a source of inspiration for them,” said stall owner Saurav Jain. “Although murder mysteries, romantic novels and light fiction continue to sell like hot cakes, there has been a surge in the number of youngsters buying spiritual and religious literature. The books cost between Rs 100 to Rs 350, which is quite affordable,” he added.

Among the most popular books in this category are Life’s Pilgrimage Through the Gita by Swami Muni Narayan Prasad, Upanishads Retold by V.H. Dale, God and Self Realization by Dharam Vir Mangla, Buddhist Philosophy in India and Ceylon by A. Berriedale Keith and The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success by Deepak Chopra.

Another stall owner, Nityanand Paikaray, said many are also looking for CDs that have soothing spiritual music which help one loosen up. “They are buying music CDs like Gayatri mantra or Hey Ram as well as other stuff through which they are able to meditate for enhancing concentration and recall power,” he said. Besides, there is heavy demand for books on management and self-development among students, especially those preparing for competitive exams. “Not just spirituality and religion, youngsters are also buying books on stress, time management and how to handle personal relationships. Books by foreign authors are selling better,” said Paikaray.

Robin Sharma’s The Monk who Sold his Ferrari, Shiv Khera’s You Can Win, Robert Schuller’s Tough Times Never Last but Tough People Do, Kishore Biyani’s It Happened in India, Ginny Pearson Barnes’s Successful Negotiating and David Schwartz’s The Magic of Thinking Big are among the best selling books. Other books such as The Right Way to Improve your Memory by Geoffrey Budworth, Oh, Mind Relax Please! by Swami Sukhabodhananda, How to Control Mind and be Stress-free by M.K. Gupta and You Can Negotiate Anything by Herb Cohen are also good options, said stall owners.

IT professional Kamalanath Mishra, who was browsing through Subroto Bagchi’s The High Performance Entrepreneur, said: “In my profession, there is money and recognition but no of mind.

“One tends to feel spaced out most of the time. But spiritually motivating music or books work as balm,” he said.