Reading - my favourite hobby

I loved to read books - mostly fiction. Dad made me a member of a local private library near my school when I was in class V. I think I was the youngest member of the library at that point of time. I remember elders gazing at me curiously when I used to walk around the book shelves to pick up what I wanted. I promptly returned all the books that I borrowed, so much so that the owner of the library got so fond of me and allowed me to borrow more number of books for the same membership fee!

I was a member of the library till class X. Those days there was no TV. We did not even have a telephone at home! We lived in large tea estates, much away from the main town and so the only pass-time we had was playing and reading. There were no children in my neighbourhood to play with, and so I took up reading. Mom was always furious as I would always sit with a book and not help her in the kitchen!

Right from comics - Amarchitra katha, Tinkle, Panchantra, etc, Enid Blyton, Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, Mills & Boon, Jeffrey Archer, Sydney Shildon...., I used to love reading the whole range of books and comics. I liked ancient stories and fairly tales as well and would even now sit down with a book when I get an opportunity!

Some tales are fascinating and are also powerful learning tools on morals, values and principles. The short stories by Aesop is one such example.

I will try to bring selected Aesop tales in my subsequent postings. Each of them have a moral for children and adults alike, and I hope you will enjoy them as much as I did. You will be amazed at how much these stories can inspire and guide our lives.

Cheers!