It is often said that books are a man's best friend. I can confidently say based on my personal experience that this saying could not have been more true.
Books can have a huge impact on our lives. My parents gave me a lot of books to read right from when I was very small - and I am very thankful to them for that. The Panchatantra stories, the Jataka tales, the Akbar-Birbal stories and other fairy tales were my childhood favourites - and it is those stories that introduced me to the vast and beautiful world of books. The Panchatantra tales all have a moral at the end, and they can have a definite impact at impacting the personalities of children at a very subtle level.
As I grew up, I began to read more books by several authors, of varied genres. However, mystery remained my all-time favourite. I still distinctly remember the excitement I used to have whenever I could get my hands on one of Enid Blyton’s Secret Seven series of books in the school library. Our teachers also made sure the habit of reading books is sustained well among us.
Enid Blyton slowly gave way to Sherlock Holmes - and that was my first real introduction into the world of reading books meant for the grown-up population. In the meantime, I got really hooked on to Harry Potter too (who didn't?) and I read each of the seven books quite a few times. Harry Potter, Robinson Crusoe, The Lord of the Rings, Hardy Boys, Gulliver's Travels… ah, the list can go on and on - these books had become an integral part of my childhood.
As I look back now, reading these books did have a profound impact on my life. I probably would not be sitting here and blogging today if I hadn't inculcated the habit of reading books from a young age. The books we read influence the way we think, the way we interact with others and the way we choose to act upon our opinions. A few years ago, I read the biography of Steve Jobs and it has inspired me a lot. Another very inspirational book which I'd suggest everyone to read is Wings of Fire written by our late President APJ Abdul Kalam. Reading about the stories of successful people and the ways in which they dreamt, fought all odds and worked their way up the ladder has been a great source of inspiration to a large number of us since time immemorial.
The last book I read was The Oath of the Vayuputras written by Amish Tripathi. His fictional imagination of the character of Lord Shiva is deeply interesting and impactful indeed. I have always respected writers a lot for their sheer ability to imagine and create a whole new world in their heads. The impact that books have on us is simply bewildering.
This blog post is inspired by the blogging marathon hosted on IndiBlogger for the launch of the #Fantastico Zica from Tata Motors. You can apply for a test drive of the hatchback Zica today.
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