My father, as I have mentioned earlier in my blog posts, was a voracious reader. He used to say that his father, who was a school teacher in a small village used to get him books from his school library and my father read them at such a pace that soon my grandfather had to borrow books from friends and relatives to keep my father engaged. My father had no restrictions with regard to the subjects he read. His biggest disappointment in us as children was that we were not as widely read as he was. But the good habit that he inculcated in us , I realise, is of great value at middle age.
I have not been an avid reader like my father despite having a huge library at home and always had the excuse that I was busy with my studies and later on with my family duties. But I am ashamed and at the same time amazed that my daughters have taken after my father more than me and are able to read books along with their academic pursuits. If alive, my father would have been proud of them.
Now, well into my late 40s, I realize that I have more time on my hands than before and I should not be giving lame excuses for not reading books. But with time, technology has grown multi-fold and books as hard copies are no longer preferred. Few years back, my daughters used to pester me to buy books they have heard about from their friends and this habit was burning a hole in our pockets as the new editions were really expensive. But for the past couple of years they have switched over to e-books and they are busy with their tablets and kindles reading books. I too have started reading books which I had been planning since years to read and find that they are easily accessible over the internet and I need not even step out of my house, visit a library or a bookshop to find my favourite book. But its a strange feeling to hold a e-reader and flip pages just with the touch of the finger. There is no cosy feeling of holding my book close to me next to the pillow when I doze off while reading. The intoxicating fragrance of the printed pages is no longer there. I am missing all this, but still having thousands of books at the touch of your finger is rather a big boon than searching rows and rows of books in a library for that single one which you would be hooked to.
My e-reader I hope would become my best buddy in the days to come.
I have not been an avid reader like my father despite having a huge library at home and always had the excuse that I was busy with my studies and later on with my family duties. But I am ashamed and at the same time amazed that my daughters have taken after my father more than me and are able to read books along with their academic pursuits. If alive, my father would have been proud of them.
Now, well into my late 40s, I realize that I have more time on my hands than before and I should not be giving lame excuses for not reading books. But with time, technology has grown multi-fold and books as hard copies are no longer preferred. Few years back, my daughters used to pester me to buy books they have heard about from their friends and this habit was burning a hole in our pockets as the new editions were really expensive. But for the past couple of years they have switched over to e-books and they are busy with their tablets and kindles reading books. I too have started reading books which I had been planning since years to read and find that they are easily accessible over the internet and I need not even step out of my house, visit a library or a bookshop to find my favourite book. But its a strange feeling to hold a e-reader and flip pages just with the touch of the finger. There is no cosy feeling of holding my book close to me next to the pillow when I doze off while reading. The intoxicating fragrance of the printed pages is no longer there. I am missing all this, but still having thousands of books at the touch of your finger is rather a big boon than searching rows and rows of books in a library for that single one which you would be hooked to.
My e-reader I hope would become my best buddy in the days to come.
