Read your mind!

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Been a long time that I wrote something … while I do have my fair share of random musings from time to time, I haven’t had the time to share them with you. But talking of you, what have you been reading lately, if not for my posts? Articles, poems, short stories, books – anything at all? Do you remember the last time you walked into a library or a book store to read one? I do – coz I went to one of my favourite book stores recently – Crossword!

To admit it honestly, when I walk into a bookstore I feel like I know nothing and there is sooo much more to learn or may be unlearn. From the fragrance of fresh pages of a new book to the imaginary extension of stories that would build up in my mind as a kid, books have an old world charm for me. Even till date when I want to do some quality reading, I prefer a paperback to the e-book format. Albeit e-books are more convenient and cost effective but reading a book in its traditional format, flipping back n forth, placing bookmarks – that’s joy of another kind I’d say.

By the way, did you know that in medieval times, libraries had books chained to the shelves? Before the proliferation of the printing press, each book took hours of work to produce while there were some others like gospels & manuscripts which were way too valuable to be left for random public consumption. Book theft wasn’t uncommon back then. For those of who have watched Game of Thrones, you would have spotted a chained library in its episodes. Hereford Cathedral is perhaps one of the oldest and only chained library of this type which survives till date (read more). From book theft to no books left, it is becoming a sorry situation for our next generation. So my appeal to all loyal customers of modern day book stores like Crossword, please do a favour. Please drop in a feedback whenever you visit a bookstore next time by asking them to house more books. I did a quick visit at a few of Mumbai stores last month and all of them had 1 thing in common – less than 50% of store space reserved for books (that too including stationery). Can you believe that – a book store that sells fusion bags, tees and games????? Why on earth will I go to a Crossword to buy a t-shirt? Crossword could have done many fun activities for kids & adults that would rekindle this habit but what it did instead is that they re-fuelled the dismal book sales by giving people even lesser reason to visit their stores – lesser books on display. While I may have tonnes of ideas on how Crossword could do this, my post is not about them but about those who need to be blamed for this situation – US.

Yes, we have conveniently replaced reading with things which need lesser patience and provide instant gratification – television, web series, computer games, etc. Look around in public transport, office canteens, everywhere – people are glued to their phone effortlessly. Alas, the next generation will have such a limited attention span and no reading habit at all. Worse still, these instant entertainment options will leave kids with no creative visualisation. Books are by far the best companion one can get – do not take this opportunity away from them and from YOU. Buy, rent, borrow – but do read. And to help you start with it, I am sharing a list of 50 books across genres that one must read at some point in time (click here).

Read something worth your while and re-discover yourself, TODAY!!

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