The day when I started reading!

I still remember that evening when I first took up a book in order to "read" it. Prior to this, I had always presumed that reading is a waste of time. Other than those streamlined textbooks, I had not seen or rather, not thought of thinking of exploring this outstanding world of reading. But, life does bring new twists and turns everyday!


It was in the summer of 2002 as far as I remember when I had this new English teacher coming home to upgrade my English vocabulary for the upcoming school certification examination. I was an education freak at school, topping the charts nearly every quarter. But, I was lacking that innovative thinking in me. I could solve every algebra problem or draw the scientific diagram of a bufo melanostictus, but the very thought of an essay scared me. Literature was never my forte till then. So, you can very well comprehend the condition of this new lady teacher who had come to teach "English" to a nerd like me!

She was completely bewildered with my lack of knowledge in English. She tried to encourage me everyday with new stories and articles, but nothing worked. Then, this one fine day, she brings an abridged version of the epic novel by Charles Dickens "A Tale of Two Cities". She asked me to read a chapter everyday after each lesson and when completed, I was asked to write about each of the characters. An exercise which turned my life topsy-turvy! 

I never imagined that the French Revolution could be put into words in such a beautiful manner. Human sacrifice could reach to such an extent that you could get your head chopped off in a guillotine for the one you love, so that she can be with the person she loves the most. The relationship of a father and a daughter, of two lovers, and of two complete strangers who get involved with each other because of their identical faces! Sydney Carton has always been that special fictional character in my life who has inspired me to love unconditionally. Love for him was never a commodity, it was an emotion which he treasured throughout. The marvellous writing by Dickens did make me gulp the book in around a week.

Then my life entered this new world from where I have never looked back. Reading, today, has become a necessity for me. With over 300 books and lots more to store in future, I aspire to "drink life to the lees". But  this one book and those wonderful "first" days of reading will never part with me. I would always wish to live as that individual who enjoys living and learning because it is a single life which we have with us.

"Live as if you were to die tomorrow, learn as if you were to live forever."- Gandhi