For the love of reading..
I sat by the lawns surrounding the Bangalore literature festival admiring my new purchase - a book recounting 13 stories about life in Pakistan, when I was promptly jolted to the present by an over enthusiastic man conducting a survey on reading habits. I courteously accepted the form he thrust at me and started filling it out. One question that made me stop and think was ' Do the family's reading habits set the tone for the child's future tryst with books'. While intuitively that sounded right, I caught myself thinking about my childhood and the role that books played in it. Well, on any given day until my late teens, I picked the most stupid TV show over a book (any book, really). My father was always a voracious reader and tried so hard to get me to read. He bought me all kinds of books hoping something would strike a chord. By the time I was 18, he was thoroughly disappointed in the way I stubbornly chose to spend time in a book-less world and pretty much gave up on that changing. It wasn't until my early 20s when I just started to work that I considered reading. I still remember walking through the corridor at work and spotting a book by an Indian author with short stories. The cover which had a Buddha and a lotus was what caught my eye. That was the first book I voluntarily read and there has been no looking back since.
It has added so much to my life. I never thought it was possible to experience places I've never been to through a book and always failed to understand people who made such statements, but I couldn't have been more wrong. Last month, on a friend's recommendation, I finished reading a book called Americanah by African author, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. It was a wonderful book that gave me so much more insight in to Nigeria. It talked about an African's experience of migrating to the States. It talks about the lead protagonist, Ifamelu failing to feel like she was home even after 15 years and what prompts her to return to Nigeria. In so many ways, it echos what you hear from scores of Indians who move to the US, but in many ways the Nigerian references are also distinctly different from India - perhaps still bearing a vague resemblance to India in the 19th century.
And then there is this moving read called 'Our Moon has blood clots' by Indian journalist Rahul Pandita. I've never been to Kashmir but have heard about the trials and tribulations of the people there from Kashmiri friends and through
documentaries. It always highlighted the POK angle or the fact that Kashmiri's didnt feel part of either nations wanting instead to be an independent state. This book however talks so much about the Pandits / Muslim angle, the killings, and the number of rulers with completely different visions this state has had. Its an amazing read and at an unintellectual, human level - its just incredibly sad what people had to go through. I was so caught up in his writing that I've just started his next book called 'Hello Bastar' which talks about the maoist movement.
Back at the lit fest, a friend and I were talking about a shared interest in history and I was wondering aloud what that knowledge adds to life and she said, yes it doesn't offer you anything immediate as a business book would perhaps if applied to the corporate world , but this gives you so much more; something intangible, perspective in life, wisdom and sometimes the feeling that a Saturday night spent reading a book added a little more to life than one spent hopping around bars (although each has its own place and is much needed in life ;))!
I sat by the lawns surrounding the Bangalore literature festival admiring my new purchase - a book recounting 13 stories about life in Pakistan, when I was promptly jolted to the present by an over enthusiastic man conducting a survey on reading habits. I courteously accepted the form he thrust at me and started filling it out. One question that made me stop and think was ' Do the family's reading habits set the tone for the child's future tryst with books'. While intuitively that sounded right, I caught myself thinking about my childhood and the role that books played in it. Well, on any given day until my late teens, I picked the most stupid TV show over a book (any book, really). My father was always a voracious reader and tried so hard to get me to read. He bought me all kinds of books hoping something would strike a chord. By the time I was 18, he was thoroughly disappointed in the way I stubbornly chose to spend time in a book-less world and pretty much gave up on that changing. It wasn't until my early 20s when I just started to work that I considered reading. I still remember walking through the corridor at work and spotting a book by an Indian author with short stories. The cover which had a Buddha and a lotus was what caught my eye. That was the first book I voluntarily read and there has been no looking back since.
It has added so much to my life. I never thought it was possible to experience places I've never been to through a book and always failed to understand people who made such statements, but I couldn't have been more wrong. Last month, on a friend's recommendation, I finished reading a book called Americanah by African author, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. It was a wonderful book that gave me so much more insight in to Nigeria. It talked about an African's experience of migrating to the States. It talks about the lead protagonist, Ifamelu failing to feel like she was home even after 15 years and what prompts her to return to Nigeria. In so many ways, it echos what you hear from scores of Indians who move to the US, but in many ways the Nigerian references are also distinctly different from India - perhaps still bearing a vague resemblance to India in the 19th century.And then there is this moving read called 'Our Moon has blood clots' by Indian journalist Rahul Pandita. I've never been to Kashmir but have heard about the trials and tribulations of the people there from Kashmiri friends and through
Back at the lit fest, a friend and I were talking about a shared interest in history and I was wondering aloud what that knowledge adds to life and she said, yes it doesn't offer you anything immediate as a business book would perhaps if applied to the corporate world , but this gives you so much more; something intangible, perspective in life, wisdom and sometimes the feeling that a Saturday night spent reading a book added a little more to life than one spent hopping around bars (although each has its own place and is much needed in life ;))!
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