THE JOYS OF READING

I used to hate reading, period. In our current education system, mostly unconsciously, promotes reading to be a neutral work, something to be hated upon. While growing up, mostly we get to read up the content which really doesn’t nourish one for a creative reading or something to have fun upon. The educations’ primary concerns remain not on the story itself in the literature, but just memorizing the damn answers to get some fictional marks, which doesn’t contain any value at all. This approach forever makes an imprint in children’s minds that the facts and data present in literature have far more value than the storyline, narration, character development, joy and satisfaction of reading, etc., which actually makes up the literature, a literature.

More upon, the hate for reading adds up to its brim, when we reach our board classes where we are forced to read some not-so-good old classics. In my personal class, for ninety percent of students, it was their first impressions to be introduced for them to the world of reading. The hopes of their first impressions get drowned in the waves of expectations for marks and not having a choice of their own, for choosing a good book to read. And after this first dumb impression, what review I got from them in return? Almost all of the classmates reported getting frustrated by this project work of reading a novel and will never touch a book again in their life.

With me, it would have been the same case if by chance I would not have landed on Geronimo Stilton’s “The Phoenix of Destiny” being my first graphic fiction, and the “The Immortals of Meluha” by Amish, being my first fiction book to read. When in 9th class, I chanced on these, just in a flash of lightning a completely new world opened up for me. For our whole lives, we run away from one joy to another, from material things which provide us less joy to more of it. Comparing delicious foods, movies, music, etc. Apart from these what I experienced reading them was a joy completely incomparable and virgin. Never before in my life, I found reading a joyous activity, worst of the scenario, I actually never even thought that reading is something which is worth enjoying. After tasting the joy of eating, watching movies, dancing, listening to music, being in a company, in my early childhood, I experienced the joys of reading after 15-16 years of my life.

At what age you experienced it? If never experienced, the more late you do, the more guilt you will experience later on for not starting it up early on in the first place.

#TheWriteChoice

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