Another Book rant

Last Saturday, Dad and me went to a Book Exhibition after a long time. As soon as we entered the exhibition hall, Dad turned one way and I turned to the other. We lost ourselves in the long rows of books and only met halfway through the hall after what seemed like hours of browsing. We looked up from our reverie and smiled widely after seeing each other's arms full of books. In the middle of doing all this, we also met a few familiar faces, some of Dad's friends who had come with their kids. I felt very nice to see them running through the book aisles and picking up books and shouting at the top of their lungs about them to their parents. A very gratifying feeling that there exist parents still who are nurturing book love in their children in this age of fast technology. Also, the organisers of the exhibition seemed to be very nice and kind people because they did not reprimand any of the kids for causing ruckus. Usually when I visit book stores, kids seem bored in a compact place like book aisles where their parents mostly their mothers are browsing children's books for them. They seem thoroughly disinterested. Of course, this is not true for all book stores. There are some kid-friendly book stores like Kitabkhana in Mumbai where there is a specially designed kids space that includes colourful bright cushions and big books arranged on a low height for them to pick out books themselves. I wish it existed when I was a kid though I don't need a reason to lament this lack of such kid book spaces from my childhood. I become a kid as soon as I see children lost in their world of books and colours and animals and toys. The conversations are always so sprightly and energetic around kids reading books. They have their innocence working magic on people like me. I sit up to hours in Kitabkhana sometimes reading in an aisle very close to the children's section just so that I can experience that childish joy and enthusiasm.

I remember the very first question that my teachers always asked me in school after summer vacations and holidays was about the books I had read. I used to be supremely pleased and go on a long excited tirade of books I had read, loved and my to be reads too. It was wonderful to have some kind teachers in school who lent their ears to my book rants. They encouraged all the bookish essays I wrote back then, often ones that had Enid Blyton and the Famous Five, my favourites for years during secondary school. I did not see any Enid Blyton books on display at this exhibition although there were plenty of Indian fables and myths for children. One thing I noticed was the lack of a variety in poetry titles. The ones that were displayed were few and of popular taste. Book exhibitions are great spaces to promote books of new authors and where by a stroke of luck sometimes, rare books are also found. I bought one such. It's a Persian- Marathi Dictionary published first in June, 1925 written by the eminent writer and Persian professor Madhav Julian. The moment I laid my eyes on it, my heart became over-whelmed for finding such a treasure. In my childhood, I had read about Persian as an optional language for students in pre- independence era. I ardently wished to learn it as a kid. It felt like a dream come true to have the dictionary as a means of starting the language lessons. I am not an anti-social person but at times like these, I really am thankful to have books as constant, loyal and patient companions when people are increasingly drawing away from each other due to their hectic technology filled lives.

I also noticed that my broody mood since the past few weeks disappeared as soon as I entered the book exhibition hall. Now every evening, as I pass by the exhibition on my way back home or to work, a big wide smile brightens my face. The lights and the sight of books visible through the big gates of the exhibition hall are enticing every single time I see them. For a while, I forget all the anxieties that plague my mind or the stress that affects everyday life. This is the best therapy available apart from music and dance to pacify distressed minds. Hope to rub off this good habit of reading in many more people I meet in the course of life.