“വായിച്ചാലും വളരും വായിച്ചില്ലേലും വളരും
വായിച്ചാൽ വിളയും വായിച്ചില്ലേൽ വളയും”
This is a very famous short poem written by our beloved Kunjunni Mash (Indian poet of Malayalam literature – wiki).These lines are very well known to each and every Malayalis and must have heard many times in our childhood. The translation is that
“we grow up if we read, we grow up if we do not read
if we read we ripe, if we do not, we bend”
What a meaningful poem it is. In this online era, people are more interested in watching or listening than reading isn’t it? In order to understand how reading enhances our knowledge, one must start reading it. I must confess that I got interest in writing blogs through my readings. I did not have any interest in reading until the age of 22. The only books that I read was the academic books those days. Those who knows me can very well related to what I am saying. But slowly and steadily I started reading various fiction books but not sure what has influenced me to do this. Since then over a decade and a half, I have been continuously reading different kinds of books. We have a small library itself set up at home. It has now become a hobby of me.
As I always say, each and everyone is different and thus our interests too. Instead of saying “Oh I and book, No way”, What you need to do is find the subject that you have interest, grab those books and read. The way we we inculcate reading habit in our children by giving them books of their interest, we must choose ours too.
It is not necessary that every book that we chose is interesting to us. So it is perfectly okay to stop reading those books that are boring. Choose your books wisely and read on and on and on. I usually take 2 or 3 weeks to finish about a 300 page book by making sure to read 15-20 minutes daily. But there are some books which brings us extreme excitement that a good movie gives us, those books, I sit and finish in just two or three days by keeping rest everything on side.
Once again I reiterate what Kunjunni Mash said if we read or not, life will go on, if you want to see any difference in your lives start reading today.
Happy Reading!!