It all started for me in the moonsoons of 1997,when we 5th graders were issued with library cards and were granted access to two cabinets- one with shelves holding short-stories' collections and the other with 'novels' - in our school library. We were to line up in front of either of the two in our weekly 'library period' and pick one book each,if at all. The line was longer in front of the former compared to a bare-minimum of 4-5 students queuing up for novels. Which normal 10 yr. old read 'novels' anyway?So there it was, short-stories, ghost-stories, Chicken Soups, abridged compositions et al..with of course, Enid Blytons predominating the lot! My eyes devoured as much as they could gather. Only after a good amount of 'short-story' foraying, did I finally deem myself capable of handling the Shelves de les novellas! And whom might I find there? Carolyn Keene and her protégé-Nancy Drew! Then again, there still featured Enid Blytons- Famous Five,Secret Seven,Hardy Boys....scoured them all!
Come 6th Grade and I decided them 2 cabinets weren't enough to keep me satiated. Joined a municipal library near home (BrihanMumbai Mahanagarpalika Corp.'s 'Chembur Sarvajanik Vachanalay'..short name indeed). Here I carried on with more Nancy Drews till I stumbled upon Francine Pascal's 'Sweet Valley' series..'Twins and Friends' to start with. Hooked and booked. Or vice-versa. These were succeeded with the rest of the series- ' Sweet Valley Jr. High' , 'Sweet Valley High' and ultimately 'Sweet Valley University'. (psst..I mention every little detail here for these really pushed me deeper into discovering the one hobby I'd stick to for years to come.. Yeah, OK, would stop when I'm 90..n hey,Sweet Valley ruled!Them Wakefields and it juvenile romance). And oh! R.L. Stine and his 'Goosebumps' and 'Fear Street' series!
Moving onto 'real' novels,(talking 7th grade) there were Mark Twain (dear dear Samuel Langhorne Clemens), Shakespeare (The Lord Playwright) and Sidney Sheldon (hey, he appealed to me. the crush of the 13 yr. old in me). Down the years, these were later followed by H.G.Wells (1st- The Invisible Man), Robin Cook (1st- Mutation), Stephen King (1st- The Green Mile), Jeffery Archer(1st- Not a Penny more, Not a Penny less), Dan Brown (1st- tch, needs no mention) and the Harry Potter series (:P). There were many others far and in between a zillion times better than those I've mentioned here (again, I grew up with these, so they feature :D)
Favourites so far.. 'The Fountainhead' by Ayn Rand would always remain a top-notch fav. Closely followed by Mario Puzo's The Godfather. Currently reading- J.R.R. Tolkein's 'The Lord of The Rings' (All hails, c'est brilliante!!)
Lotsa blabbing done, reading was, is and will remain a passion for as long as my brain is where it should be. Cheerio! Happy Reading!
