My first reading experience
When was the first time you started reading books out of your personal interest? Lets hear it out….Share your thoughts in the comment box.
This is literally my first time writing a blog post and I don’t know if I’ll do good job or not but that’s what I want to do at this moment, so why not? right?
I am here to share my experience with this amazing community of believers, doers and hustlers. There is no strategy to target any audience or for the sake of likes or followers because there is no business or financial model, No. I am here out of my own passion to write and share the content with the world to inspire and provide a window to see better.
Once you learn to read, you will be free forever
-Frederick Douglass
During my childhood, I always came across a book or two whenever I was lying on the bed or at the coffee table or at the couch. I couldn’t help but wonder why there were so many books lying everywhere at home, who reads it? Why read it? Yeah. I was never a book reader but more of a sports person. They were my Dad’s books! With time, there were two humongous shelves of books of mixed genre and topics such as Marketing management, operations research, linear algebra, fiction, non-fiction, thriller, etc. I was never inclined to reading a book or never had a natural thought for the same, that certainly reflected on my grades ;). But one day during my summer holidays my dad asked me to read a book ‘The Alchemist’ by Pauolo Coelho. It was a whimsical decision at my end and I was pretty sure that it would remain unfinished even after the holidays. But anyhow, I embarked on a tortuous journey and started through the introduction, as I read through the pages, I noticed emphasis under some lines on some pages and in those lines were the important lessons of life that my Pa had instilled in him(he later told me that). I would like to share that with you.
He told me that there is always something to learn from a book, what you read, you think about it. Before starting the book, he told me that you’ll love the concept and imagination behind the curated scenes. And to my stark surprise, I actually followed those lines, fluxing in through the information and imagining those scenes, playing my own movie in the head and as I read through the book, it captivated me like some mysterious power and I really looked forward to read chapters after chapters. My dad and I were startled by my reaction and proclivity to the novel. Honestly, At first I was not able to assimilate the twist at the end and literally laughed at it(to know that, read the above book) but then my father told me the true meaning behind it and it struck me like an epiphany and my reaction was ‘WoW’. Confounding my expectations, I loved the book very much that got me excited to ‘read’ and score better in my examinations(pun intended). The Alchemist is still one of my favorite book and I always suggest this book to anyone who asks me what to read or where to start. Today, that same book is 10 years old and I still keep it safe because of the feelings that it was my first book ever and actually because my dad gave it to me.
As the years passed by, deep down the feeling of reading books was still extant and finally when I started preparing for higher studies which includes various exams like TOEFL, GRE etc. and during the process you have to process a raft of documents yourself and be meticulous enough to take proper actions and not make any mistakes. Then, my dad again remind me of the importance of book and I again started reading books and by that time we have had a room full of books that we called as cliche ‘The reading room’. Before my preparation also, my dad again insisted me to develop a habit of reading books not just for the sake of qualifying for exams but as a life long habit which makes one a life long learner. That’s when my true journey of reading started, As I moved forward and read more and more books, I found a profound change in all the aspects of my life like I scored pretty good in GRE (Verbal: 158, in two months preparation), my command over language was too good that I won various challenges during my Toastmasters(US headquartered nonprofit educational organization that operates clubs worldwide for the purpose of promoting communication, public speaking and leadership) journey, it gave me a different perspective to the world as in what has changed and what is the pattern we are all following, also these days we have a paucity of the most essential trait of having patience to assess and ponder on the topic and have the ability to think critically. These small changes created a profound affect on my life where in I started buying more books than my backpack could handle, reading more than chatting on Facebook, my friend circle also dwindled relative to my college days, it gave me a feeling of companionship where in I felt like someone was always with me especially while traveling. My dad also suggests me books of his time written by world leaders in which you can find the most robust thought process that apply in today’s world also. He suggests me to read both fiction and non-fiction with a checked balance because fiction allows you to be more imaginative, creative, curious, free –all these take us away from this world. And to read non-fiction to have a firm setting on reality, the trend, your perspective and what is happening around you.
I can assure anyone who is reading this post that I wouldn’t be the same person writing this whole big blog if I had not read books and hadn’t cultivated the right mix of patience and to pen down the thought process. It never felt like I was being enervated while reading a book because they are obviously written by someone else and you get the opportunity to place yourself in their shoes. But the key point here is that what all are you able to extract from a certain piece and apply in your own world. Many renowned scientists and psychologists have derived and also concurred the fact that repetitive learning is the best learning approach if you want to remember any specific topic. Because of this reason, I always make notes of the topics in my phone(ubiquitous) that I loved the most and that I could come back later anytime. Also, I write it as concisely that it gives me the whole synopsis of the book.
Nothing would give me any more pleasure than to know your journey towards this wonderful path and what inspired you to choose to read. I always feel like people who read create a rapport instantly with another reader. It’s like we have this amazing tribe where we can discuss about anything related to books and I can’t help but wonder the flow of knowledge through those interactions. I am hopeful that by sharing my experience I was able to incite some thoughts for people who want to embark on this beautiful journey but are somehow inhibited by some unknown factors. And it’s totally okay because everyone is fighting their own battles and we ought to respect that! Wishing good for the beings!
Thank you!
