Books: My Eternal Friends

It’s said that books are the best friends of a man. I know it’s not true for most of us but its 100% correct in my case. I learnt to read at an early age of three even before I heard about schools. Soon there was an urge to apply the newly gained knowledge. So, everything from biscuit wrappers, newspaper cuttings, milk powder cans became my first books. My father was in a habit of going to the Paan shop every evening. I generally used to accompany him (So that my mother could get some respite from my mischievousness). But it came abruptly to an end when I started the kattha stained paper cuttings that were thrown by the customers.
My mother taught me to read Bengali. I read the whole “Barnaparichay” and “Dharapat” and actually learnt them by heart. Unfortunately, I couldn’t learn to write and still can’t write those jukto-akkhors. So, it didn’t surprise anyone when I got 100% marks in all subjects in KG-II.
After joining SNS, my friendships with boys of my colony slowly ended. I had friends in school and in the school-bus but none at home except my mother and my brother. Then television meant Doordarshan and it was dull as it is now. We watched selected serials. But I needed something else as well. Our principal, Gill Madam, always used to prod us to read. I yielded and took my steps inside the library. I think I was in Class-III when I took my first book. I remember being scolded by the bus conductor for delaying the bus’s departure. But when I told him the reason the whole bus was actually awed. The book was in discussion was “Man and the Monk”. Sadly, though I don’t remember the story.
Our library was very big and had a variety of books. I had made it a point to read only English books (Silly and proud decision). The second book that I took was “Man on the Moon”. Since then I have been interested in astronomy. Once I read a book called “Kaziranga Trail”. It had nice story based upon poaching of rhinos in Kaziranga. Few days later I saw another Kaziranga Trail. It was fatter and I thought that the last one I read was abridged. I issued this fatty and when I went home I found it to have only a fat hardbound cover on the same book!
I generally used to read books of one type at one time. I would finish the whole set and then move to something new. The books I read in my early teenage were mainly Quiz books, abridged English classics (Jaico), Folk tales of India and South East Asia, short biographies (Glo-bee publications) and few Indian fictions. When in 9th, my brother once brought a Hardy Boys. I read it and was hooked to it. I found there were a number of them in the library. For all my remaining 9th and 10th, I read only 22 Hardy Boys, 10 Three Investigators, 10 Nancy Drew, 10 Famous Five, few other Enid Blyton Series and 1 Super Sleuth. I was so obsessed with Hardy Boys that I had given my friends, names from the characters of Hardy Boys. I was Frank, Harish was Joe and Amoni was Chet! I always had a book in my trouser’s pocket. I even started thinking myself as a hardy! When one of my friends lost a digital diary I started pondering how a hardy would have solved it! My teachers and friends were concerned about my results. I even gained a -0.25 spectacles. My librarian stopped issuing me more than one book per week and wouldn’t give me a book 2 weeks before any exam! I used to get one from my brother. But only two books couldn’t satisfy my hunger. I therefore bartered my class notes for Hardy Boys with my friends! I kept notes of all the books that I read. I read huge amount of comics especially Chacha Choudhary, Nagraj, Dhruv, Doda during these days. Apart from these Chandamama, Champak and Lotpot were my favourites. I can devour them even now!
In class 11th, I almost read nothing. Once, during a holiday break in 11th, I and Arijit obtained permission to read in our school library (Silly school! Never heard such crap anywhere else!). We read books for a few days. But such Red-Tape was unbearable and we stopped going there. In 12th, Ratnesh, a junior, showed Arijit and me two books. He was a rich fellow who bought books for just showing his rich tastes! Arijit picked “Discovery of India” and I took “Tell me your dreams” by Sidney Sheldon. I wanted the former but luckily I got the latter. I read it in 3 hours flat. Arijit got bored and read this one instead. We were just cupid struck with the books. The books were all about powerful ladies who overcame all deficiencies to become stalwarts. The books also had mild doses of sex which was a matter of everyday discussion in our lives then. In and all we fell in love with the books. Most of the books that I read were supplied by Ratnesh and some were brought by Arijit. Arijit was instrumental in my acquaintance with Mr. Sherlock Holmes as well (I have mentioned it in an earlier blog). I remember when we were watching Deewangee (Ajay Devgan was the hero), I and Arijit always knew what will happen next as it was based upon Tell me your dreams. But the end was changed by the director and we were foxed. But to tell the truth I like the book’s ending more than that of the film. Even though Arijit and me were really good friends, the books bonded us more. When I came to Nagpur, Sidney Sheldons were provided by Kaustubh.
As you would have observed that I never mention a book that I bought. The true fact is that I never bought because I generally finish a Long-Story in 2-3 hours and a novel in 4-5 hours. I do a re-reading again and then the story is printed in my brain or I sometimes keep small notes. Thus it seemed unworthy to spend money in buying a book. The other books that I read were Da Vinci Code, Angels and Daemons, Five point Someone, One Night at a Call-Centre, a book by Ken Follet (I remember the story but not the title!). Almost all these books came from Kaustubh.
My Bengali reading was limited to all that I could read when I went to my uncle’s home in the summers. My uncle once gifted me the entire collection of Sukumar Ray (Illustrious father of equally great Satyajit Ray. Sadly he died at a very early age). I read the whole book and still have it though it’s torn in some places now. I am not a great fan of poems, philosophy and books on character building. My favourite poem is “Jhansi Ki Rani” by Subhadrakumari Chauhan. I have not even read Shiv Kheda’s “You can Win” as I think that no book can teach how you lead your life. But after coming to Pune, I picked up Bengali reading again. Anandaloks and Unish Kudis helped in bringing Bangla alive in my heart. All these books were there courtesy my friends Saurabh Maity and Sayan Mondal. And since January 2007, when I bought my laptop, Bengali reading has not been a trouble at all thanks to the www. I started going to IUCAA for my Astrophysics classes in my 2nd year MSc. The library over there is just a marvel. Although we had our books on the left side, it was the right side that attracted me the most. I generally call this section as the Jayant Narlikar section as most books are donated by him and his father, Late V. V. Narlikar. I started reading more and more here. I read those awesome big atlases which have to be balanced to see properly. I also read the biography of Rajiv and biographies of eminent physicists from Galileo to Yukawa. I also read about World History and even books on Calcutta and American Cinema.
Of late I have started buying some books, all non-fictions and comparatively cheaper. But I am still averse to buy fictions. The old ones I get from the internet and the new ones do always happen to fall into my lap! I like to read but have failed to influence my near ones. My closest friends are still shy of books! Let’s hope this change. I pray to God that I never get weary of reading books.