As I near the
third birthday of my baby, my blog (4 August), I feel that this is the
perfect time to share with you all what really started this all. What really
was the starting point of a journey spanning countless books, that fired me off
to start writing. So, yes this blog’s gonna be more of a personal one.
Reading. A single
reason, a single hobby that soon became a habit.
I started reading
when I was three, learning to join my first words and sentences. It all started
with a magazine called Magic Pot published by Malayala Manorama
(It’s still being published), a really beautiful, lively and creative kids’
magazine filled with cute little animals, classic stories and countless
learning based activities. My parents got me one of those, and I simply loved
it! So, my middle class parents, without sparing a second thought, got me a five
year long subscription. Because that was their decision. To spend on books, no
matter how difficult it may be. It was one amazingly joyous journey for me. My
parents turned into storytellers, helping me read, giving their time, so I
could learn to love books.
As I grew up, me
and my parents struck a deal. For any task that I didn’t feel like doing, but
was good for me, I would get a book on completion. A very fair deal! I spent
hours reading short story books, magazines like Champak and Children’s
World and of course, Diamond Toon Comics like Pinki and Chacha
Chowdhary.
Not even a single
day passed before I went to bed without reading. What started off as a hobby
had inevitably become my favourite habit.
And then, at the
age of 11 I stumbled upon my first novel (Famous Five) at a relative’s
house. Bored and always hungry for the written world, I just loved it! Now,
this was it, I decided. I read my way through all 21 books of the series and
then explored many more series’. Since then, it’s been a journey through
countless books, my parents are still spending thousands a year (for ebooks strain
my eyes a bit), and because of them I’ve been able to travel to fantastical
places, meet amazing people and just learn so much! Strange, what wonders
parenting can do, isn’t it?
I don’t mean to
write much about my writing journey. But the one big step was starting off this
blog, writing book reviews for two years, and then switching to my more
personal work over the past one year. This month, I’ve started a book club as
well. So, it’s been one long journey, I guess. Didn’t think a three year old’s
loving a magazine would go such a long way. But, here we are! Fate, as they
say!
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