A dim lit corridor led to a small room. Its entrance held a creaky metallic chair on one end , and a shaky wooden stool on the other. In between them stood a large register holding scribblings of many...
The man on the chair called himself a Librarian, taking the seat on the stool were its readers. A room packed with books -most of them old, some partly torn, some without cover pages. Starting from ground level to lofty heights, books seemed towering on me from all sides. I was about 12 then. While my friends went for Famous Five & Secret Seven, I devoured Tinkle Digest week after week.
Years rolled...face of Library changed. Libraries started giving out fresh, neat books- as good as new ones. Kiosks replaced bulky Entry Registers, dainty cushions replaced creaky chairs...Tinkle Digest took a back seat.
A refreshing pause came by... reading slowed down. Random books kept coming but the habit of reading was undergoing a change. From renting books to buying books & saving them to read another day! Books of interest kept adding up, adding became piling & piling became stocking. For want of space they were re-arranged, then shuffled, subsequently shifted, until one day...went out of sight.
I always wondered how the Librarian with a creaky chair reached out to the books he stacked at lofty heights. 🤔 Just as I wonder now, on which attic I have placed those books for future read.? Nothing aids my memory to tell exactly which books are stored in there. If I were to climb up & search them today, the place would resemble the same faintly lit library aisle that I had visited years back.............Originally this post was to find an end here!
Timeline essayed beautifully!
ReplyDeleteInterestingly written, this post brought a smile as I read it. True, the taste and the pace of reading change over a period as we grow. But some books never stale over years and the liking remains lasting.
ReplyDeleteK.Partha
During schooldays, I was a holiday reader. I read only during the holidays!
ReplyDeleteNowadays, due to over-exposure to monitors, I find it difficult to read from books. I either listen to the audiobook or use text-to-speech apps to listen to ebooks, if possible.
Ya, reading is an addiction. But it's much better than the other addictions out there.
Destination Infinity
Very interesting blog. As Mr. KP said some books never stale over years. One of that (at least for me) is Love Story by Erich Segal. I am talking about the book and not the movie though movie is also good
ReplyDeleteOld childhood friends that books are, we sometimes feel we have outgrown them or are bored with them, then gain the wisdom to value them as they are, come back with maturity to again enjoy their company. Numbers initially feel like a metric indicating progress or success, later we assign priority to depth and quality.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed a reader's musing.
Good one
ReplyDeleteAh, nostalgia ... going to library and browsing different books ( famous five fan).
ReplyDeleteThen changes to Chetan Bhagat, Amish Tripathy..then to Dan Brown, although haven't touched novels for years now.
It was a great read...Keep penning.