The Reader speaks

I am a crazy reader.

Even while typing this sentence all that came to my mind were the book bags, book shelves and stacks perched on the sofa of the living room of my house. I am also a collector of antiquarian books. So I can't resist picking up two copies of the same book if they happen to be rare editions. Ever since I have known Ahalya, the librarian and bookstore owner of Trilogy I have been the happiest soul I was on the planet. This girl is exactly me. I saw myself in her. She is the mirror I must have been looking for. And, its no mean coincidence that our names take their form in an old Indian epic. That's particularly funny, even I think so.

These days, Ahalya and me have started communicating through a messenger app and its such a boon. I continuously bombard Ahalya's phone with book cover jpegs and she enthusiastically responds over it. Initially I thought it would be an imposition on her. I lost that dreadful thought soon enough. Its an absolute blessing to have a friend who's as ferocious a book eater as you are, and I couldn't be more thankful to have met and known her.

Reading occupies such an everyday space that when somebody asked me how I found time to read, all I did say was 'I don't need to take out time to read. It happens. Its very natural just like drinking water.' Although one might drink when one is thirsty, I find myself with a book, magazine, periodicals, leaflets, newspapers..everything that has the written word printed on it. One cannot explain why or how one reads so consistently though I've devised my own theory about it. Book Love runs through my veins, like blood. Its almost the alternative to blood. Everytime I close my eyes I see my Dad perched on a chair with his reading glasses going through a book. That's my etched memory. I don't know where it is from or which year, how old was I then or any other detail. It has stayed with me and will always be there. When I think of the years gone by particularly my childhood, I remember reading books on the bus while travelling long distance journeys, sitting under the tall trees in my grandma's orchard, reading on platforms at railway stations while waiting for the trains, rested by the library carousals in my school. All these images conjure up because they are like the pieces of my timeline on the planet. I can pretty much read anywhere, anytime. Its the way I was bought up. Mum- Dad let me read even during lunch/dinner times. And these are the happiest memories I have.

Speaking of which, its essential to read. It really is. One can't live without possibly experiencing the visual and imaginative skills of our mind. When we read literature, our brain really begins to work. It jots down events, pieces happenings and fits these to complete the picture. We do see more when we imagine, much more than our eyes could or are of capable of witnessing. That's how we grow. That's why Gutenberg's successors didn't have to worry about his invention going astray in the maze of discoveries that followed post Renaissance. The written word is here to stay.