Books. From then till now.

One of my online friends had posted a blog on her relationship with books and people who helped her maintain that relationship. I posted a comment in her space which prompted me to take this step of writing. From school till now.
I was never fond of books [not that i am very fond now, i guess its improving]. In fact I hated reading books when i was a kid, exceptions being tinkle and chacha chuadury. My dad used to work for a govertment enterprise and we were staying in the govt. alloted quarters from my birth day till first 2 years of engineering. There was a library, a small one, in the corner of the sports complex of the quarters. There was a man who used to get frustrated with kids very often, rambling words under his breadth, cursing the kids [including myself] or maybe himself, for having landed in that low-paying job with naughty and annoying kids around. Playing in the sports complex and in the near by ground was the only activity that used to cloud my mind when i got back from school. After playing, the time usually would be 1830 hrs, i used to visit thte library to get a book from the quota of two books from my dads account. It initially started with getting kadambari books [kannada] for my mother which slowly moved to getting tinkle, asterix, tintin till class 6, i guess. After this phase, was my interest for reading enid blyton books [i always thought that enid blyton was a man] which included those famous books Famous Five and Secret Seven. After reading thro the book sof available enid blyton, i started reading The Hardy Boys [Franklin. W. Dixon]. The interest in hardy boys arose because a friend of mine used to read it and he used to ask me i could get some books from the quarters lib. Once he was done with his reading, i used to pick the book. My addiction for television cartoons had taken over the miniscule interest that i had in reading. I guess, you would have now known how it started, from hating books to creating the interest in reading some. The cartoons that used to occupy my time were Spiderman, Teenage mutant ninja turtles, Silver Surfer, Talespin, Ducktales, Tom and Jerry to name a few. These were my favorites and i guess will be my favorite alltime cartoon series.

My regret would be not reading books during my +1 and +2 stream. I got into a college were there were full of padakoos and i turned into one of them having read only science and mathematics books [though i fared poorly]. The interest whatever i built up started diminishing and i dont remember reading a single book during this mundane period.

My undergrad days, was a revival period, atleast partially, for the interest in books. Sydney sheldon books were the ones i read during first few years and continued my reading on asterix [i have to admit i havn't read all of 'em. I also had the web print of the entire collection but the CD is corrupted now. how sad is that?]. Parallelly, there was an increased interest in Harry Potter and was eagerly waiting for the next release, like a kid. Few of john grisham's books and dan brown's [all of 'em] books were in the list of books i read.

In my professional life, i guess i am looking for something different now. Not the thrillers, not the sheldon types or the grisham types. Fortunately, i had a room-mate who had a good interest in reading and the books he owns are also the ones which are selected for the top 100 novels of alltime. Now, i read whenever i find time and when the interest for reading is insatiable. There are books lined up close to 100 of 'em. I wish i could finish reading those in the shortest time possible.

MUSIC moves MIND.

I was walking from the final office bus stop to my house at night. Like always, i was plugged to my music. A lone man walking at night. At some distance i see a house decorated with lights. The light bulbs, of different colors, were placed in parallel lines. With a particular song which was running [argghhh.... i can't remember the song], i just, for an instant, travelled back in time with visual glimpses from the past clouding my mind till i crossed that house.

The glimpses were of the decorated christmas trees that i used to see near my aunt's house when I was a kid. This particular place i.e my aunt's place, has lot of christian families. I used to wait for the day of christmas whenever i realised the month was december. For one, there was food, confectionaries and they were in plenty and another, there was this sense that built up inside that i belonged to that place, the eternal peace i used to find whenever i visited that place, the familiar and friendly faces to greet everytime i was there. There is a hospital near by which used to put up christmas trees with dangling christmas cards and covered with lights, clay dolls placed in small dens or placed over a small area, depicting stories. I was taken to the place by my dad or uncle. At times the entire family used to visit the place.

As I think of it now and that night when i walked past the decorated house, the whole place gives me a sense of security, pleasure, comfort. The security is not in a way that I would be attacked or smacked but it's like the way that there's someone to make you feel connected, important, liked even though you feel you dont need it. The place gives it all to you. That's what's so beautiful. I don't have to say it to anybody or express anything the way I feel for that place. It's hard to describe. I think that is what 'belonging' is all about. Whenever there is a glimpse of the wonderful past you had, if given a chance, you want to get back there, and as fast as you could.