Call it logic or lack of things to lament about - but writing about reading seems to be the perfect sequel, especially in this 'lack of' situation.
Lahari the Internet friend who seems to have so much in common with me that I'd have married her if she'd proposed, tagged me on a chain mail of sorts in face book. Now the networking site in question is more of a faceless book for me since I cannot for the life of me make out heads or tails of it and everything everyone said and did in my friends group is promptly reported on my profile page.
"Minnie is friends with Mickey" it would read - right under my name
and add "Minnie commented about Mickey's photo"
and "Minne is upset about it being Sunday afternoon already"
Minnie - "Don't call me on my cell - I left it at the office"
Minnie - " I think I have my ....okay, I'll edit that since it is my imagination - and no - I am a teetotaler, on the verge of being a vegan and I am not on dope - read caffeine since it is what I think it is - dope!
Okay, now I feel like I am stalking the 44 friends and have known them inside out in the few months of being on FB (- more than I could ever imaging knowing my significant other into years of marriage,) just by being on that goddamn site and I for one thing, cannot understand why I still stick my butt around there. Now that makes me the mystery, kept in a riddle, wrapped inside an enigma I claim to be - and makes face book my elder sister - assuming she's a she, since women have more complexities than men do, mostly! Ahem!! LOL and they seem to be directly proportional to age.
Anyway, the chain mail asked the bunch of friends it got tagged to to list 15 books that would stick with them for ever - which kind of gingerly gets us to what I have assembled here to preach about - reading!
I had to answer. It was about reading!
I effortlessly remembered 15 books I read and that might not necessarily stick with me - but they did definitely influence me in a small or big way. Lahari came back saying the she knew I read a lot. Now, this is where the mystery comes into play.
Actually I don't read a lot. My cousin Nalini will perhaps walk away with that accolade , since she is easily the one that reads. A lot. I kind of read in between lines a lot. That probably makes me feel and look like I read a lot and that explains all this blah blah. LOL.
Jokes apart, I think reading is a great way of being able to think and feel and evolve - and just like the many genres of writing, there are many forms of the good ol reading as well. Reading maps, minds, lips, messages, hearts, codes, abstract arts, life and of course the more straightforward ones like magazines, letters, books, texts etcetera. And just like every where else, the quality reigns over the quantity. How would I ever have imagined knowing how to tell polarized sunglasses apart form their non-polo counterparts and known more about Bernard Shaw to Ben Affleck if I'd not read about them somewhere? I think even reading correspondence helps. I think I'd learnt a lot of new vocab form this kid who's apparently slogging to clear CAT, though he declines it - since he sounds more like a young man mugging a word list than a young man.
Hmm...let's see! Reading a spiritual book puts things in perspective - gives us so much clarity and reading Irving Wallace is a pleasure of a different kind. There is most certainly a whole new world awaiting people who are willing to open their eyes to new signs arranged in perfect perecision.
Like I said, I don't read as much as I want to or have to and I feel that it is a shortcoming that I'll regret for a long time and I also feel that reading literature in several languages makes us that much more evolved - sorry for the over use of this word! I never understood why they had three different languages in school while growing up. the first, the second and the third. Now as I become a traveller and drop my jaw and let it touch the floor when I see so many different languages that are so much more different than the ones I am used to and comfortable speaking, I realise that afterall three languages is not really a good or a right number. I think, ideally, we should get our hands on as many literatures as possible. Like they say - life is too short to be little. So better catch up with all the reading back logs.
For now the Faceless book reports that Minnie - "is kind of peeved - at the lack of a friend's imagination.
and Laxmi Addanki say "that gives me the cue to my next gyaan column"
Laxmi Addanki - "Imagination it is" and "Facebook down, down!"
Why do I get a feeling that you are not interested in reading anymore???
May be it is just a feeling.
Retiring - uninhibited, unedited and un-peeved.
Aarti's mom from the Sunny land of smiles and cynicism (contributed by Moi)
