B for Books (What Else?)

My love affair with books started when I was five.

We lived in Dubai at that time – seems eons ago – and one of my numerous aunts came to visit. And to me, visits were extremely welcome; they meant the arrival of at least a bar of chocolate. My aunt, however, chose to give me an enormous picture dictionary. My memories of it have mostly been obscured by the mist of time, but I do have fleeting impressions of very-glossy pages, large red fonts and some beautiful illustrations. The book is now god-knows-where: either lost in our journey from one house to another or gathering dust in some corner of the store room.

That dictionary told me that there were some things you cannot illustrate, taught me about abstract qualities before I even knew what the word meant. That book led me through little stories and poems, to bigger ones, and finally to Enid Blyton. And that's where my tryst with fiction begins.

I read my first 'Famous Five' book when I was in second/third standard and my fixation with the series and, indeed, other Enid Blyton works like the Secret Seven, lasted right up to sixth grade. That was when I discovered [or rather, re-discovered] Harry Potter.

Suffice to say, once a Potterhead, always a Potterhead.

As my love for reading grew, I discovered more fantastic authors: Rick Riordan, Eoin Colfer, Veronica Roth and Angie Sage. Jodi Picoult and John Green tore my heart apart. Khaled Hosseini's books captivated me with their breathtaking prose and made me sob unashamedly. Dan Brown taught me a thing or two about pacing; Stieg Larsson's Lisbeth Salander is still the most complex character I've encountered.

Somewhere down the line, reading blossomed into a full-blown obsession, to the point where my day doesn't feel complete without reading the newspaper the first thing in the morning. Heck, I even read railway timetables when I've got nothing new. [What? It's informative!]

Over the last few years, I've amassed a large collection of books, the joy of which I've learned to share with my friends and classmates. In the past year alone, I encouraged several classmates to read, introduced them to some of my favourite books. Over this process of lending and recommending, of them reading and sharing their thoughts, I've bonded with them. And the pride I feel when I see them enjoying reading as much as I do is nothing short of a mother's pride as she watches her child take her first step.

The books I've read have taught me to think about the world around me, reevaluate my opinions, reflect on myself. They've been my best friends and have catalyzed the formation of most of my real-life friendships. They cemented my identity at my new school and earned me the fond title of 'class librarian'.

The books I've read made me who I am today and I wouldn't want it any other way.

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Writing this was unexpectedly... therapeutic. I'm still wondering why I didn't do this earlier, being a professed bibliophile and all. #AtoZBloggingChallenge2013