PLEASURES OF READING 

“It is a great thing to start life with a small number of really good books which are your very own.” Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

The excitement of going to Punjab Book Centre in Chandigarh as kids, for the Russian story books, has stayed with me. The  journey then began, is still continuing and it has gradually  passed  on to my daughter who loves books and has been visiting libraries and book stores with me since she was two years old. What surprises me are  her skills in  weaving stories and  writing small pieces on her school and friends, even a loving letter to her pet dog, Bruno. There seems to be a sense of fulfillment to see your child learning skills just by observation. 

In times of lockdown, reading as a hobby is a blessing when we are stuck at our respective homes.

Reading is bonding with the author, with his thoughts and ideas. It is like author coming to life and having a tete-a-tete with us. Books become our friends and true friends who will never desert us.

 Reading broadens our perception and clears various qualms and thoughts about the philosophy of life and the things connected with it.

Good reading invokes ingenuity and improves expression particularly the writing part. It improves thoughts and gives motivation whether it is writing or any other inspired proficiency. A good writer is foremost a good reader. 

Reading is an active activity which makes one use one’s brain and helps in its development unlike watching television which is a passive activity.  Reading exercises the mind and helps one focus on various things. Reading improves memory, self-worth, discipline and imagination and brings in analytical thinking. It reduces monotony; in fact a person used to reading rarely gets jaded. Reading brings in regulation, concentration and in turn makes an individual consistent with the routine. Through reading we can understand people, diverse places, customs and religions which in turn make us tolerant of other people and religions. Reading settles the fidgety mind and helps an individual observe situations and ideas in clearer perspective. It is calming to the frayed nerves and improves attentiveness. In addition it helps an individual observe life in a fresh perspective.

One should be cautious about what one reads as Francis Bacon rightly observed, “Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested :that is, some are to be read only in parts, others to be read, but not curiously, and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention.” One should not do reading for the sake of reading or for the numbers to boast about it. Reflecting on what one has read is important as it develops our mind.  Mindless reading is like eating without chewing. Bertrand Russell puts it rightly,

“There are two motives for reading a book; one, that you enjoy it; the other, that you can boast about it.”

Regardless of the distractions of television, computer games, internet, reading habit can be imbibed in children. The finest approach to do this is to read to them when they are very small. Children should be encouraged to read by first making them read for pleasure. This will build up their vocabulary and language to relate and communicate which will stay with them for life. In the process parent-child bond is strengthened and it opens a wide world of imagination, fun and fantasy. One is giving one’s child a buddy for life by introducing reading. The child will never be lonely or bored and the hidden talent of a child is explored.

         (Reproducing my article with some changes from southasiapost.org)