Encyclopedias to non fictions: My leisure reading journey

Clicked by - Aarti Yadav

My former friend introduced me to the habit of reading. When I was around 9 years old, she would bring encyclopedias for us to read. We read the encyclopedias at either our homes or the society terrace. Encyclopedias on various subjects brought us together- we would read and discuss various facts and information. In some ways, reading encyclopedias gave us a sense of acceptance in each other, which we both kind of desired, from society (I would be ridiculed for stammering and she was socially excluded due to her half-Chinese heritage). Seeing my interest, even my parents agreed to buy me encyclopedias to read, all of which I have kept safely even after 12-13 years. Encyclopedias somewhere even gave me my first friend of life, even though the friendship didn't last long. My habit of reading encyclopedias got broken a little bit after she had to leave the city without any notice (got to know later that it was probably due to her parents' divorce). I still protect the encyclopedia (and sometimes go through and read) that she gifted me on my birthday, the only reminder I have of her. 

The gifted encyclopedia

Encyclopedias, though I do not read them anymore, were as per my memory, my first in leisure reading (if it can be even considered leisure reading). I might have read other stories, magazines or collections of stories before encyclopedias entered my life, but with credit to my fractured memory, I do not remember any. 

What came later were comic books. On open days in my school, various books were displayed in the assembly area. I was in 6th standard probably and a comic book caught my attention. As those books were for purchase, I had to convince my parents to buy a book for me. Like any Indian parents, they gave me the condition to improve my grades and they would purchase the book for me. As an average student, I tried to score as much as possible, and I would get a book if I earned more than 75%. So for the next open day, I actually got the comic book I aimed to buy. It was Genius Ideas (Mostly) in Tom Gates series by L. Pichon. With buying comics as my motivation, I earned myself 2 more books of the Tom Gates series. But slowly afterwards, my interest in comics declined too😅. 

Around the same time, a monthly magazine was introduced for students in our school to purchase. I don't exactly remember the name but it was MIT or something. For a year, I did buy and read it. 8th standard and onwards, academics had to be prioritised (My hatred towards academics started). Till the 8th standard, we would have a library period, where we would get to go to the library and read books. But 9th onwards, that was stopped as well (I would just wonder for whom did the school grandly renovate the library).

Being a student of the CBSE board, we had novels prescribed in our syllabus. Though the book in 9th standard did not catch my interest, I did read half of the book (but then went on to read the summary for the exams). In 10th grade, it was Helen Kellen's autobiography 'The Story Of My Life' that got me into reading. Though I read most of the book, I didn't get to complete that book either. 

Post 10th board exams, I tried to give leisure reading another chance. After some research (that is going through genres and reviews), I bought Savi Sharma's Everyone Has A Story. It can be said may be the first book in leisure reading in real sense (by many of us as we tend to exclude comics). It was then followed by one of my favorite books, by the same author, This Is Not Your Story. I started exploring more books, initially by Indian authors but then expanding to books written by foreign authors.

At first, I was only into rom-coms, teenage or young adult fiction, and motivational books, but with various recommendations, slowly embraced books from other genres. This included philosophical (with a fictional story), psychological, humour, and various other genres I cannot recall the names of now (as I said, fractured memory). Due to the snob attitude of many (while I would judge them), I avoided reading non-fiction earlier. Though still married to fiction, I have now started to indulge in non-fiction too. Though, a lot of non-fiction I read is mostly based on my trust in authors, like non-fiction books by Preeti Shenoy, Ankur Warikoo, Ashish Bagrecha (poems and open letters) etc. Or books I have been recommended by many and look at the reviews before I spend my time or money on the book. 

Though I still avoid reading books in horror, crime, action or similar genres, as they leave me mentally disturbed (goes for the visual content in the same genres as well). Being disturbed mentally and not being able to sleep over weeks ain't worth the leisure reading for me. I would rather read tragic romances and overthink over weeks & months (or even years) in place of the protagonists. Hello, The Fault In Our Stars, Five Feet Apart and All The Bright Places. Bikharne ka mujh ko shauk hai bada playing in the background.

Starting from a young age, I have gone on to read books of many forms (like encyclopedias) or genres. Being a voracious reader, if I can call myself that, I now have a small library of my own (and wishes to fill it to get another bookshelf). With many asking me for reading recommendations, I have even drafted a list of book recommendations (so as to not have to type the list of books each and every time).

I feel bad for my sister who didn't have the book prescribed during her batch, for what she is missing. And I feel happy when I see my 11-year-old niece's bookshelf, though filled with comics now (but may embrace books of various other genres as she grows).

Though I may never reread the encyclopedias or all the books again, they sit cozily in my bookshelf, their pages turning yellow. And in them, I see my journey till now as a reader.

P.S- I acknowledge the efforts of my parents who let me buy books and didn't stop me from reading (albeit the taunts that syllabus books padhne ka koi irada hai ya sirf books hi padhna hai).