Books became my gateway into this wild jungle of imagination. We all read books in order to receive formal education but my relationship with books is ever dynamic. I remember being 10, with 4 comic books in my hand eagerly waiting for my study table to be delivered to my house. I promised myself that I will study on this table and read on this table all the time. It was the perfect table with a little book rack attached to it. Soon, the books started coming in.
My grandmother tucked me into bed every night, only after telling me hindi stories. So even before I could read, my relationship with stories had already begun. I started writing about my mundane life as if it was a wild adventure, after reading "The Diary Of a Young Girl" by Anne frank. It baffled me how I could connect to characters in these books, who lived in these in places I have never heard of. I feel like I could read more books and develop telepathic powers someday, just like Matilda. Winnie the pooh taught me to be kind in the most humblest way possible. In my imagination, I was a part of every story I read. I understood how stories have the power to change the way I look at the world.
When Robert Frost walked the road not taken,he lightened this new sense of hope and courage in me. Poetry became my way of expressing myself. I began scribbling poems in english, on the margin of my notebooks. I found the kind of friends, I aspire to become in the perks of being a wallflower. I found a mentor when I spend my Tuesdays with Morrie, who taught me the importance of being compassionate, taught me about the fragility of life and the value of memories, taught me to love or perish.
She taught what immense bravery and standing up for others selflessly entails, when she stood in the face of death and told the gunman "I am Malala". She moved me in ways I hadn't been moved before. When I thought I was hitting rock bottom, the alchemist showed me how the possibility of having a dream come true makes life interesting, makes every morning worth waking up to and that the secret of life is falling seven times and getting up eight times. Rupi Kaur put her vulnerabilities in few sentences, on a paper for the whole world to see. Being honestly herself, she gave the world an insight on what a revolution it is to just love yourself.
I wish to take something from every book I read. To become a reflection of every character that somehow touches my life. The person I am is the aftermath of all the books that I've read.
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