It is a sextant…a compass…a telescope…a chart.
It can tickle you…riddle you…fiddle with you…dwindle you.
It can get you started….it can stop you with brakes sharper than Bugatti Veyron’s EB 16.4 brakes.
It can turn its back on you and still remain a friend….or tell you that the only way to have a friend is to be one.
It can transport you to places unknown and bring concepts unheard-of right back to you.
It can open your mind….challenge your convictions….push your limits.
It can cushion your comfort-zone….or yank you out of it.
It can tour you inside the minds of great people who have lived and continue to live interesting lives.
It can show you wisdom of Centuries.
It can show you what to dream…how to dream…and how to live them – wide awake.
It will show you HOPE…no matter what dire straits you’re in.
It can change you.
It is more than just 12 ounces of paper, ink and glue.
It is…..a book.
And if that didn’t convince you to embark upon this delightful ride called ‘reading’ then….these life-champions just might…
- Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body. ~ Joseph Addison ~
- To read is to empower. To empower is to influence. To influence is to change! ~ Jane Evershed
- “We read to know that we are not alone.” ~ C.S. Lewis
- When I got my library card… that was when my life began. ~ Rita Mae Brown
- “It is what you read when you don’t have to that determines what you will be when you can’t help it.” ~ Oscar Wilde
- Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers. ~ Harry Truman, the only American president without a formal college education.
- I've traveled the world twice over, Met the famous; saints and sinners, Poets and artists, kings and queens, Old stars and hopeful beginners, I've been where no-one's been before, Learned secrets from writers and cooks …All with one library ticket …To the wonderful world of books. ~ Anonymous
- A wonderful thing about a book, in contrast to a computer screen, is that you can take it to bed with you. ~ Daniel J. Boorstin
- “No matter how busy you may think you are, you must find time for reading, or surrender yourself to self-chosen ignorance.” ~ Confucius
- Beware of the person of one book. ~ St. Thomas Aquinas
- I can't bear art that you can walk round and admire. A book should be either a bandit or a rebel or a man in the crowd. ~ D. H. Lawrence
- If we encounter a man of rare intellect, we should ask him what books he reads. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
- Next to acquiring good friends, the best acquisition is that of good books. ~ Charles Caleb Colton
- The reading of all good books is like a conversation with all the finest men of past centuries. ~ Rene Descartes
- You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.
Ray Bradbury
· A book store is one of the only pieces of evidence we have that people are still thinking. ~ Jerry Seinfield
- I divide all readers into two classes: those who read to remember and those who read to forget. ~ William Lyon Phelps
- If there's a book you really want to read but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it. ~ Toni Morrison
Personally….I’ve experienced new stimuli; shared experiences of Wilde, Emerson, Wodehouse, Shakespeare, Doyle, Buffet, Fry, Christie, Adams, Gladwell, Bombeck, and Sharma in the comfort of my patio; learned wordplay; escaped from boredom and anger and got thrilled and entertained in the bargain; found other’s perceptions on ‘purpose of life’ got coached on ‘life and living’; and became an avid airport reader. In all…I can vouch for time well spent. The trick though….is knowing which book to read.
In every family and every circle of friends there exists a book-worm who could point you in the right direction. Else…you’re now blessed with the glorious tool – the internet where, not only can you find recommendations on the right book to read….you can find the book itself. The electronic book. It does pale in comparison to a paperback but that’s your next bet. And I will bet my favourite book that you will soon be pining for the next book sale!! Like I am right now…for the ‘Kolkata Book Fair’. It’s not your run-of-the-mill book fair….it’s the ‘baap of all book fairs’ in this country! Plus….it is the world's third largest annual conglomeration of books after the Frankfurt Book Fair and the London Book Fair with a footfall of 20, 00,000 (2 million) people.
Started in 1976 by the Kolkata Publisher’ and Booksellers’ Guild the Kolkata Book Fair is the most sought after event by the book-worms of India. The 36th International Kolkata Book Fair 2012 would be inaugurated at Milan Mela Prangan on 24th January 2012 at 4:30 pm and would last till 5th February 2012. Timings - 10 am to 9 pm.
They say the prime attractions of the Book Fair are the various gates that are designed and decorated to match the theme of Santa Maria Novelle of Florence, Belur Math and the Art Centre of Chicago. I say that the prime attractors to this book fair are some literary stalwarts who are expected to visit the Fair. Some of them are Ruskin Bond, Vikram Seth, Omar Abdullah, Amish Tripathi, Chetan Bhagat, Tahmima Anah, Imraan Khan, Manu Joseph, Craig Taylor, John Keay, Upinder Singh, Moni Mohsin, Sugato Basu, Mahfuz Anam, Shehan Karunatilaka, Arunava Sinha, Anuja Chauhan, Arvind K. Mehrotra, Palash Mehrotra, Kapka Kassabova, Anita Nair, Rezwana Chowdhury, Ritu Dalmia, Dr Tomaso Belloni etc. Even Bollywood celebrities like Actor Imran Khan, Gulzar Saab are expected to visit the Kolkata Book Fair.
And if you wanna catch me there…..its easy. I’d be the one scurrying around stall to stall trying to bag as many books as I can carry….EVERYDAY!
