books... a man's best friend :-)

i had to write this essay for a competition @ work - thought i may as well publish it...

Reading a book v/s watching a movie


Honestly depends on a person’s mood at the given time but I guess I’ll have to go with the former because I love books! Reading books triggers my imagination and i paint my own picture of the stories. I developed this hobby at the start of my professional career when I suddenly realized i had to travel 3 hours a day to get to work. There are atleast a dozen bookstores in or around the churchgate area - all with these tempting titles on the window sills. Now I had to pass them by atleast twice a day (to, fro) & I couldn’t withhold the temptation anymore. That’s when I picked up my 1st novel by who else but Chetan Bhagat. Lots of youngsters in India owe this book reading addiction to him. I am sure there are several of us who started with his novels & I’ve been smitten by the reading bug since. In fact it is a well known fact that almost all resumes in the world would definitely have reading as one of the hobbies.

From then ON I’ve virtually read anything I could lay my hands on, from established authors like Khalid Hosseiny to 1st timers like Ravi Kumar – There was no stopping me. I must admit here though that buying all these books instead of renting them did leave quite a dent in my pocket. However I can now proudly showcase my book collection to all my guests at home.

I’ve shared several emotions with these authors - weeping in pain reading about the atrocities faced by Afghan women, craving for love reading about Chetan Bhagat’s love escapades, been enlightened with knowledge reading about top business tycoons, learnt my lessons reading about the Corporate world in Ravi Subramanian’s books. In fact I’ve even got my mom & sister hooked on to reading books & they keep asking for new titles. Thank god I know books will never run out.

Watching a movie is exactly what it means – Simply watching a movie. You go watch a movie to kill time & that’s just about the purpose it solves. There are very few movies which have a long lasting impact (unlike books). People watch a movie when they have leisure time while a book is your long term companion. Trust me friends - reading is definitely more worthwhile & beneficial than watching a movie.

So, to sum up my journey of fascination with books - There I was travelling with nothing on my mind to now with my novel every day every place I go. An empty mind is a devil’s workplace & thankfully mine isn’t anymore. I feel guilty about the harsh treatment those books have endured during my travels in trains though.

I want to end it by saying – “A man only grows old when he stops reading”. I wish for someone someday to refer to me as “Mohammed” a well read man.