Dusky#6 The Art of Reading

One can never master the art of reading, but I can finally say I’ve come a long way from where I started, five years ago. Art never holds on to something for too long, and nor should you. It took me a lot of time to let go of inhibitions, and love all kinds of books, new and old, expensive and cheap, clean and scribbled in, and it’s been one crazy journey. Like a major part of the reading community, I set on the journey of the reader through Harry Potter, the most common ‘gateway’ into the world of stories. Though I’d read a lot of tales and experiences before, it was with this that I identified myself as a ‘reader’, and I’m glad the journey had such a magical beginning. I fell in love, headfirst, with each reread, and not once in the seven reads, did I get bored. As I discovered the the most popular books of the fantasy genre, I found myself getting more and more awe inspired by the attributes of courage, love, and justice that the stories talked about. LOTR, The Hunger Games, The Chronicles of Narnia, Divergent, and the list really doesn’t stop there. These books, are some of those that played an amazingly important role in transforming a shy introvert, into an expressive and analysing person, and I couldn’t be more thankful. But as you explore more and more people like you, you start seeing the beauty in reading the yellowed pages of an old edition, almost radiating the warmth of the love it’s been given. And it reminds you of the blanket your grandma made for you, that keeps getting warmer and more comforting with the passing years. You realise warriors are amazing people to read about, but so are love stricken school boys. The number of stories out there, waiting for you, is unimaginable, even for the most knowing scholar, and though I still judge a book by its title, opening my mind to more and more types and the sources of my books, has been one of the best journeys I’ve yet undertaken. And trust me when I say that my bookshelf really does look prettier, as the age, genre and stories told by these books gets diverse. Not just the stories written, but also the ones told without words.