Even before I learned to read/write, books were my sanctuary, my safe haven. The former years of my childhood were spent in a big Marwari joint family. My mom was almost always in the kitchen. She would make a circle of magazines and books around me and make me sit in the center. Even if she was occupied for hours at a stretch, I would keep turning every single page of those magazines patiently and make my way from start to finish of the circle. I think I was around 1-2 yrs old at the time. She was sometimes late in giving me food but even if I skip as a meal, I would never complain. Mostly because I wouldn’t remember I had to eat.
When I learned to read, I was engrossed in comic books. Chacha Choudhary, Pinki, Billu, Sabu, Nandan, Champak, etc were my world. Summer vacation to my Nani’s place in Ghaziabad involved 48 hrs of the train ride. I loved every minute of it – as that meant, I would get to read more books. We used to stay for at least a month or two in my nani’s house. My most awaited part of the trip was renting books from a nearby bookshop – “book vale uncle ki dukaan”. It used to cost 2 – 5 Rs for renting books for 72 hrs.
The bookshop was in a complex. Taking one round of it would take around 5-8 mins and that was enough for me to finish the short comic books. Sometimes, I would take a circle of the complex and come back to the shop and very cutely tell –
“Uncle, ye book to me last week leke gayi thi, dusri de do.”
And no one expected this adorable little girl to be evil. Also, because it was hard to keep up with my appetite for reading. I came almost every single day, and the shop uncle often would run out of books for me. I was a voracious reader.
I know, I know, it’s wrong. But I earned the pocket money from massaging my nana’s head. And these books will get over really fast. I love Chacha Choudhary, but buying it meant spending Rs. 2.50 for 8 mins, too costly. Come to think of it, I still can’t fathom, how I never learned about the magical world of novels.
How, when, and why I convinced myself so strongly that I just can’t read books is still beyond me. I’ve spent over 2 decades of my life not reading books. That’s crazy.
Although not books, when Medium.com was launched, I was hooked for hours at a stretch. Sometimes, I had to remind myself to get back to work. Not sure exactly how long I read, but it would have easily been at least 2hrs/day without any exceptions. I was convinced that reading blogs is better than reading books and tried my best to convince Hari. For a while, “blog vs book” was our topic of conversation for night walks. He kept saying, I’m missing out by not reading books and I tried pitching that good blogs were more effective.
Either he saw some merit or just to shut me up, he tried reading the blogs I recommended, and reciprocating I tried reading a book. Gosh, it was so hard to sit still and read books. I could read so many blogs in 2 hrs. But barely make it to chapter 3 in the books. And given that the first 2 chapters are mostly fluff or the ‘setting the stage’, I would zone out pretty quickly. I went from reading 2-3 chapters to dozing off in 7 pages.
At this point, (a couple of years back), I had no memory of how much I loved reading in childhood. Books are not for me was my verdict. Sleeping off after 7 pages is a pretty low bar to call yourself a reader of any kind. My other theory was that I’m suffering from ADHD which seemed fitting since I couldn’t stop reading blogs (which were ~6 mins read each). In fact, I have asked many therapists this question and everyone has denied it.
In 2018, Hari gifted me a hard copy of Lean In. Sheryl was and is an icon for me. Her ted talk made me have a girl crush, and hence, I started reading the book (along with the added pressure of sharing life and not just home with the person who bought the gift.)
Eat Pray Love was a birthday gift from a friend, 2 years back. Since I had gained some momentum reading Lean In, I started reading this too. I loved the story and managed to read halfway through. Even though the paper quality was terrible, I hated the font, and the line spacing was totally off. That’s probably one of my biggest reasons to not read a book. It’s a designer pet peeve. If you know, you know.
In 2020, Hari bought Audible subscriptions (through my credit card ) and kept purchasing books like crazy. He had signed up for Audible.com since audible.in didn’t have good business books. Being charged in dollars every month and the boredom of lockdown, made me try audible and there was no going back.
We both loved audible and while doing mundane chores in lockdown, it was our companion. We started discussing the books we read and recommending what to read to each other. Hari looked forward to washing dishes as that meant more time to listen to books. He would wash not just our house dishes but also my sister’s home.
I started walking at off hours in my apartment complex (during Covid) to read more books, make more chai and coffee and do my many experiments in the kitchen. I soon discovered that re-reading books made them register better and it also allowed me to play candy crush.
Now, I read a handful of blogs and am always listening to some or the other book. Here are the stats –
2018 – 1.5 Books
2019 – 3 Books
2020 – 13 Books
2021 – 32 books
2022 – 74 Books
Around 60% of my books are re-reads. But with this growing list, it was hard to recall which books I’d read in which month or year. This year I maintained a tracker.
The reason I read is to learn, grow, challenge my perceptions, escape, and be moved. These are the sort of things that you can’t quantify in numbers. Books are simply magic. They can whisk you away to places you’ve never been, introduce you to fascinating people, and take you on wild adventures. It’s an escape when you are down and a lifeline when you are faced with difficult times in life.
I’ve been always interested in hearing people’s stories – as raw as possible. I’ve tried connecting with people with the same intentions during my solo rips this year too. Books are the most remarkably efficient gateway to knowing what it’s like to look at the world through someone else’s eyes. With other media like film and TV, we are more passively fed another’s vision. A book actively engages my imagination in creating and exploring other worlds, and it makes me feel I have experienced much more than I really have.
So, what has been your reading list this year? And Happy New Year.
Chandni says
74 is really impressive. You are giving major goals. I guess I have had a similar up and down relationship with books but mine has been a down from a long time now. This is inspiring me to get back and reclaim that.
Babita says
Keep it up ..really want to do start reading again after reading your this blog ..