Sometimes all it takes is a synopsis..

To break you from a resolve you had every intention of keeping! 🙂

Now it’s not been long since I started taking to e-reading. It has been a gradual shift though.

To be honest I was pretty resistant to the Kindle revolution at first purely because I was way too much in love with my paper books to let it come in the way. The blissfully smooth touch, the divine smell of the paper which I felt every time I flipped the pages always made my reading journey more complete than the vagueness that I felt with a flimsy careless swipe of an e-reader.

But, a dearth in good book stores and libraries here have made me seek out for other options to keep my love for reading alive. And reading on Kindle has been a fairly good option which I have begun to rather enjoy.

That’s not to say that I don’t love paper books anymore. I do. I heart them. Which is why I had resolved, after the last two e-books, that I would now pick up a proper book, that I can touch, feel, breath-in in the ‘real’ sense.

But one month on since then, there still wasn’t any sign of a good book that I could lay my hands on. Until today.

I stumbled upon a book while wishlisting a few other books that I wanted delivered to my parents’ so I could pick them up in my next visit home. It had showed up as the website’s recommendation. Since the cover was quite pleasing, I decided to click on it and read its summary. Suffice would it be to say that I was hooked! I was itching to pick this book up to read.

Usually, before deciding on buying a book, I also check on its reviews by readers, especially those whose recommendations I follow. So I looked up to see whether anyone I knew had already read it. Noone had. But I still decided to buy it. Placing an order for delivery of the book here in Doha was proving a bit steep on my pocket, while a more economical option of having it delivered to my parents would have meant that I would have to wait till my next visit home. And I didnt want to wait.

So what do I do? I opt for the next best option. Even if that means breaking my resolve to invest in a paper book next. Yes, Kindle it is 🙂

The book is now lying in my reader waiting to be read. I have no idea how the book is going to fare from the inside, but the synopsis sure has made it too good to be turned down!

Life’s little joys…mean the world sometimes

Sometimes life’s little joys bring the widest, purest of smiles, give you moments that you want to cherish forever.

Yesterday, while on our way back from the pool, Namnam had wanted to hear a song which for some reason I was unable to play in the car. So I suggested we took the CD home and played it there. No sooner had I played the song, than Namnam started shaking her hips. Seeing her excitement, I couldnt stop myself and joined her in shaking a leg or two. And in no time the two of us were dancing away to glory!

Now, I’m an absolute non-dancer. It will not be wrong to say that I have two left feet when it comes to dancing. I’ve never felt very comfortable while dancing. So much so that I get very conscious of my surroundings when I’m asked to dance.Forget about surroundings, parties or gatherings, I cant get myself to dancing even when I’m alone :D.

But yesterday, I just didn’t care two hoots about the world. Not that the world was watching me, but I didnt even care about my own inhibitions. I was probably putting even Sunny Deol to shame. But who cared! All I noticed was how happy Namnam was when I was dancing with her, how much it meant to her. All I cared about ware those smiles that lit up her face when she had me & R join her on the ‘dance floor’. Oh yes, R joined us too, a while later. And the three of us found the perfect way to close our 5 day loooong weekend!

Thats how little it takes sometimes, isnt it, to make one realize how some moments, howsoever small they seem, can bring so much of happiness? In our rush to catch up with our lives, many a times we forget to live these small, but precious moments to the fullest, dont you think?

Anyway here’s the song that had the three of us dance our heart out!

Reading too much into it?

Recently I have started reading stories to Namnam.It is something that I have tried to do ever since she was a year and a half.But her fascination for books,papers and anything remotely related to that was confined to biting or tearing them into pieces!So much so that R,who works in a publishing house that take out about 4 magazines in a month,was anything but amused at his daughter’s love for destroying his sole source of income!Thankfully,with time,she outgrew the phase and found more interesting things to do.

So I was happy,when,a couple of months back,Namnam brought a book to me and insisted on being read to.Soon this turned into a practice and she began to love this.And I,even more so at this new phase of mother-daughter bonding!

Reading is a virtue that needs to be cultivated.In fact it should be an integral part of your growing up.

The more you read,the more you grow,the wiser you become.To me,a well read person commands more respect than a highly qualified one.I know of many people who are well-educated,hold doctorates even,yet their knowledge is limited to the field of their specialty only.If you ask them about something outside of their expertise,they would be ignorant.Why?Because they dont feel the need to read or widen their horizon.

My Ammamma was not very highly educated in the permissible sense of the word.Yet she was so well read that her intellect and wisdom could match up to any person holding a bachelor or master’s degree.

Not everyone can have a passion for reading,I agree.I dont boast of being a voracious reader myself.I dont pick up anything and everything that comes my way to read.But I do find the whole aspect engaging.Even empowering at times when I realize I’ve gained some knowledge too in the process.And I’m so glad to say here that my reading has increased thousand-fold ever since I started blogging.

I was chatting with my father-in-law while drafting this post.He said one of his cousins was gifting him a CD listing the names of 1000 books!I’ve no doubt,though,that of those 1000,Appaji would have read 800 already.His excitement was evident in the words he typed on the messenger.His books are his greatest companions.There’s nothing that gives him more pleasure than reading.I so admire him for that and respect him even more.

I’m yet to know how much Namnam is going to acquire the habit of reading though.However,I’d like to try and make sure to do my bit by inculcating in her the love of it.

Let me sign off with a quote by Maya Angelou that is apt to the present context..

Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his deep and continuing needs, is good for him.