Pastime: Reading

Reading is my favorite pastime. “An activity that someone does regularly for enjoyment rather than work; a hobby” is how oxford dictionary defines the word “Pastime”. Reading for me ticks all the boxes and fits perfectly as a pastime. A deeper introspection though reveals that reading for me is much more than a pastime and “enjoyment” is a weak word to describe the effect that reading has on me.

Reading for me is vital. As much as I love to dwell on a lip smacking preparation, or watch a gripping game of football, I hold high regards for a compulsive book. Not a day passes when I don’t read. Reading consumes majority of my waking hours. My day starts with reading and it also ends in pretty much the same way. I remember the days when anxiety used to get better of me if the morning newspaper used to get delayed even by minutes. Bedroom to door, door to bedroom I used to pace relentlessly before the sight of Newspaper boy emerging from the gate with the paper neatly folded his hand calmed my nerves. From Champak to The Panama papers it has been some journey.

Sight that soothes the eyes 

I have no shame in accepting that I read greedily until my brain’s thirst for knowledge and wisdom is satiated. It helps to boost my self-confidence. Reading also soothes the pleasure points of my brain which in return helps me in coping with stressful situations. Being a sports aficionado my mind wanders from Manchester to Madrid. My meager salary doesn’t permit me to visit the inner sanctums of coliseums like Wankhade or SW19, but books have surely helped me paint a picture of them in my head.  

I try to contemplate on reasons behind my avid reading. As I made my mother read the first draft of this essay an interesting chat followed.

“As a college going girl, I used to sit for hours in the college library. By the time my college ended I had read all the fictions.”  Mother said.

“That’s interesting”.  I am impressed. For all that I know about my mother, this is something I come across for the first time.

“My Nanaji was also a very passionate reader as well”. Mother takes the conversation ahead. 

By now I am lost in my thoughts about a book that I spot on the table.

Anyway, the chat only made me realize that the habit of reading runs in my family. Both of my parents read. Analysis of my ancestry reveals that my maternal grandparents read. In her days my paternal grandmother was a zealous reader herself. My maternal great grandfather boasted of having a huge library of his own and my paternal great grandmother spent most of her time reading as well. Reading runs in my genes. The bio-technologist in me is compelling to be a bit cliched here.   

Reading takes me places. I travel the world through books. I might not have managed to go New York in person, but in my mind I surely have an idea what being at Times square feels like.

The many characters of my books, living or fictitious help me experience human emotions closely. Their loss is my loss, their victory is my victory. I live the life of a Prince; I live life of a pauper. In this regard I can only appreciate the words of the grand old author Georeg R.R Martin “A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies. The man who never reads lives only one”.

Reading also keeps my inner will in check.  When I read the stories of extra ordinary achievements, stories where people have defied the odds to reach the summit, my faith in hard work, determination and perseverance is only strengthened.

For the introverted person that I am, I don’t mix with people much. It is how I have grown as a person. The void created by absence of people is duly filled by books. Presence of people or their absence I am never bored, because in my books I have one steady companion. I have spent more time in company of my books than I have spent it with people. All the wisdom that people generally draw by their interaction with other people, I have drawn it from books.  Be it a memoir or a fiction, I learn the lessons of life from what I read.

Reading is not all that people aversely thing for me as well. For when I read I share my thoughts with people. It connects me with other readers. It is through reading that my thoughts are metamorphosed into words and my words help me in connecting with people. Reading helps my mind to open to new arrays of ideas. Because of reading I understand different layers of human emotions. As French novelist Honoré de Balzac aptly puts “Reading brings us unknown friends”.

I conclude by quoting Roberto Bolaño “Reading is like thinking , like praying, like talking to a friend , like expressing your ideas, like listening to other people’s ideas, like listening to music like looking at the view, like taking a walk on the beach”. These lines perfectly sum up essence of reading for me.

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