A very long time ago, about 4 decades, may be a bit more, I got hold of my first book. A bit worn down copy of Amar Chitra Katha (ACK). Worn down, because every other cousin and my brother had read it at least twice, before handing it to me, the youngest at about 5-6 years old. I was fascinated by the pictures more, than by the story. A few months later, the eagerly awaited first issue of aTinkle came home. Over the next few years, ACK and Tinkle were mainstays, with the likes chandamama, champak getting added to this list. Slowly, Tintin and Snoopy came into my world. As I grew older, Enid Blyton fillled my summers, vacations and weekends. Then Hardy Boys.
During my pre-teens and early teenage years, books were a form of entertainment. Sometimes, they were an escape into a fantasy land. A time came when sports occupied a major portion of outside school hour. Despite that, books continued to have a special place.
I was fortunate, as some say, to be born in a family of people who valued reading. My paternal grandfather was a writer, and my maternal grandfather used to read 2 newspapers including a business paper every day even in his late 70s. But the biggest driver was my father. He was a voracious reader, and when I was in high school, my elder brother was running at a pretty fast pace along with my father. May be it was in the genes, may be the environment was conducive or may be it was peer pressure, or plain luck / fate, I got into a regular habit of reading.
Over the years, what started with reading fiction, slowly expanded into non-fiction. It wasn’t until after I finished my college, my scope expanded into serious reading our epics. Seveal events led me to discover our epics and scriptures - mainly the Ramayanam, the Mahabharatham, and the Bhagavad Gita. This phase in my life, made me realize a lot of things. It gave some meaning to what I thought was life then. It pointed me in a direction which I felt was the right one.
As I got into corporate world, the business books entered my reading area. I used to read a lot of business books trying to understand and make sense of understanding business, the various domains, some great leaders and companies.
My 20s were probably the best time in life with my books. This was the time that I realized that Books were the window to the world. More importantly, to choose the right set of books, to get a proper understanding of the world. As they say, travel gives you the best experience in life. Reading gives you the next best, without the same effort, time or cost. Thankfully, my choice of books were good, and therefore my journey was fruitful. My biggest learning by the time I reached my 30s was this - to read, daily. Without fail. Because, reading gives you the knowledge of things that you may not experience in life.
Remember, Ignorance is bliss, but knowledge is power.
More on reading in the following posts including how reading changed my life, how it helped me get ahead of competition in my corporate world, and may be a list of books that made a big impact on me.
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