Books—My Best Friends

Sounds like a cliché school time topic to choose, isn’t it? We have all written an essay on ‘Books are my best friends’ when we were in school irrespective of its truthfulness. We all know how our printed best friends are better than our human best friends, they don’t complain, do not demand anything, they do not expect anything. They don’t want our time and attention, they provide us with knowledge. We all have included these points in our essays, haven’t we?

Then why do I write about it?

Because I want the world to know how much I love my best friends. It’s kind of a PDA (Public Display of Affection)! And I am sure, the readers worldwide can relate to this feeling!

Come to me and travel

To the land of Angels and Demons

Open your mind and look beyond

Your Pride and Prejudices

You won’t regret spending your time 

For I’d tell you The Tale Of Two Cities!

The sooner you start your journey with books, the better. If you were lucky enough to be introduced to them as a child then I am sure your imagination developed its wings very soon. You want to fall into adventures just like The Secret Seven or The Famous Five did. For years it’s Enid Blyton on your book shelf. If you’re a girl, you so want to live in a hostel like the Twins at St. Clair’s. If you’re an Indian kid, you can’t put Tinkle and Panchtantra tales down. You read them again and again (maybe even after growing up). These books give you values which stay for life. I remember touching my nose every time I lied, when I’d read Pinocchio. As you grow up, you read everything of Chicken Soup for Soul. Not to forget the Twilight and Harry Potter series which start as a teen fiction but end up being a lifetime craze. The love story of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr.Darcy is probably going to remain a favourite even in the next millennium.

Talking about these characters causes a slight adrenaline rush in my body. It seems as if I have known them forever. They seem like my own people. Whenever I see someone reading any of my favourite books, I like them automatically. It’s like a book recommending a person. It’s so easy to strike a conversation with someone who shares your taste in books.

It’s amazing how books influence us to such a large extent. They make us believe in them. They make us believe in the fact that in the end good wins over evil. They prove to us that truth is self-explanatory. They light a candle in darkness. Giving us a ray of hope in this deteriorating world. Just like Anne Frank had written in her diary; ‘In spite of all their flaws, people are really good at heart!’

Yes, I know I’ve Personified books way too much. But none of it is a Hyperbole. Ask any reader, and you’ll find a similar madness inside him. We readers carry books as if they were treasures, we buy beautiful bookmarks and hate it if anyone tries to mishandle them.

With technology taking over most of the things, kindle is eventually replacing real books. Call me old school, but I’d still prefer a book over kindle. Kindle may have everything, from its light adjustment to flipping pages but it does not have the smell of a book. The smell that changes with the age of the book, reminding me that how things have changed from the first time I ever read it. I need to see my book change its colour with time. I need to feel its texture, bear its weight. Only then I feel satisfied.

Book or kindle, whatever it may be, reading is important. All those who shun reading must try to lose themselves in this world of imagination. They should peep inside and discover their genre so that they don’t miss out on the world’s most pleasurables leisure, world’s most happening best friends— books!

Magic wands and fairylands

Prince charming and his princess

In this world of fiction you find

A reason to smile, a real bliss

Enter this reading world my friend

Such pleasures, do not miss…