Monday, January 14, 2008

A treasure worth craving for!

This time the writer’s prompt was treasure…and what a treasure of a prompt…it firstly evoked in me an image of pirates and then of course, Johnny Depp…sigh…...double sigh!!!


I had to delve deep into my mind to unearth something treasure worthy…As i opened my my treasure chest of memories…lovely little images flew past. Isn't it wonderful to remember the pictures you conjure up when you see that letter, that strand of hair, a photo, a first footprint, a birthday card, a love note, shells, postcards, mementoes - all bound by the common thread of nostalgia. Various jigsaw pieced memories joined together to form a beautiful collage of nostalgic moments… This was a treasure worth writing about but there were so many, what would I choose?

I then thought about my kids and a treasure I would like them to discover, a treasure they would keep!


What greater treasure can I write about than the one I carry around every time I move house. In the numerous occasions I have set up home in new cities, one thing never changes, that little reading space I create. BOOKS, they indeed are a treasure worth collecting.

From the Enid Blyton phase, to Shakespeare, to Charles dickens; I’ve read, and read and reread most of them. I fell in love with reading at a very young age and it’s an on going love affair!
Only a lover of books would understand the pleasure you get from curling with a good book in hand. The excitement of feeling that book in your hand waiting for the moment you can open the pages and immerse yourself in it. That feeling of being taken to places you may never visit and being pulled through a gamut of emotions, is something to be experienced and never to be forgotten! Some books have brought a lump to my throat and made me cry. Many have made me laugh and still others have made me ponder. What power the writer has, to use his words to manipulate our emotions so well!

As the old Chinese saying goes “To read a book for the first time is to make an acquaintance with a new friend; to read it for a second time is to meet an old one. “ I’ve re-read a few only to be surprised by the novelty of the experience, each time!

Here in Singapore, we have beautiful public libraries,in every nook and corner, huge and inviting! It is our favorite haunt and we make the optimum use of the facilities available. My son and I share a common bond which strengthens every time we add a book to our collection. He’s a voracious reader, all of 10, and has graduated long back from the Hardy Boys stage to a wider range of writers including Cornelia Funke, Angie Sage, Mark Twain, Roald Dahl and Satyajit Ray. A Harry Potter fan, he intends to write a note to J.K Rowling about some loose ends that he ‘thought’ she had left open!! I think he's well on his way to collecting his treasure.

What greater treasure can I leave them than this, my bookcase full of books, their value not measured in monetary terms but from what we have managed to take from it?

It is rightly said that reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body…Go ahead and read all you can…Find that treasure and build on it…I promise you , you won’t regret it!...

36 comments:

Rambler said...

books are a nice treasure indeed, I was a terrible reader until very recently, now I can totally relate with the chinese saying you have here..
As far as memories go, yeah they are treasures, but somehow I feel its a bigger treasure to live the moment :)

Sairekha said...

Do you n sonny hang out at the library together? You guys sure sound like a family of readers to me..:)

And woman... you are seriously inspiring me to jump on to a sinagpore flight and grab a nice hot cuppa coffee with you!! :) You think sooo much like I do..:)

Incidentally, last week I was wiping off my drool looking at my writer uncle's book collection - Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Doestovesky (not sure if I spelt it right?),shakespeare, zen philosophy, world history... you name it, he had it!:) But I didnt wanna get any home with me, coz I felt like I'd dig into his... treasure. :)

Prats said...

Ooooooh....books...simply droolworthy....
I think I must be sent out of my house with no penny, and eyes all shielded

Have to keep bringing back books from all corners...and its totally alrite if I dont have right of spce...but yeah...my books may filleth over...

And those libraries can be real magnets...mmm

Preethi said...

oooh.. books... i love books too and Nantu and I love the library... Nantu has his own little collection now..and lows to add to it.. My only regret is that I have not been able to bring along the 300 odd books I left behind in India :( .. So S is going to send a note to JKR eh? He is smart isnt he!! Finding loose ends in the HP series!! :)

Sumana said...

Nice Treasure to cherish TA. Hmm your 10 year old has an idea to the author of Harry potter cool, isn't?

Keith's Ramblings said...

I can honestly say that I didnt read a book until I was 40. Writing I loved, but not reading. Now I cant exist without my books

Compassion Unlimitted said...

Great to know despite the internet you have been able keep up the good habit of books and more important your kid has acqired the same..nothing like reading a book,thats what my wife used to say..me ..he he no reading habit
seasons greetings
tc
cu

Anonymous said...

oh yes, we have said the same thing, havent we? But I like yours better..love books! love them, love them!

Anonymous said...

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Beau Brackish said...

That library looks incredible. Do they rent out rooms by the week? I am grateful my mom took us to the library from a very early age. Even with the internet, there is nothing like crawling into bed with a good book and losing yourself for hours.

aMus said...

rambler...
i can never imagine a life without books and i'm happy you have got yourself into the habit...


Ziah...
heh..heh..when should i come to the airport...hey r u planning to come?

sonny boys and i are out there almost every 2 weeks...i sneak in a visit in between..they have a fab reading room where you can just get lost in your book and no oneto disturb you...

i still have a lot more writers to discover...and would sur ehelp if you point me in te hright directions :)

aMus said...

prats...

droolworthy...heh..i like that..careful not to get it on teh pages...

seriously...i know what you mean...spoken like a true lover...of books...;)

shd tell you about my dream library once...



preethi...

i know...i too have kept my prized collection back home in banglaore...and i swear this may, i'm going to give them a visit...

and S has unique ideas, which i encourage...who knows he may ne right!

Sumana...
teh confidence of eth young has to be seen to be believed...but i'm really glad that he loves reading!

keith..
i find that so hard to believe...but once you are hooked, you stay hooked!!!

aMus said...

hey CU...
happy pongal...heh..heh... you carry on dreaming and writing about basanthi while we do the reading part what say?

@ Ul...
great minds think alike ...don't we? ;)...and books...i echo teh same sentiments...


@ herb ..

:) :)..

They don't but you can stay from morning to 9 in the night...they even have a quaint cafe serving coffee, tea and sweet temptations!! Happy reading!!

Crafty Green Poet said...

excellent post, I love books too, I like your idea of the trasure chest of memories too. Oh and I'm a Johnny Depp fan too...

paris parfait said...

I agree, books are a treasure not to be taken lightly. I have moved so many times in my life, always with books, books and more books. I can't imagine life without books! Lovely post.

paisley said...

my simplest joy and constant companion..... wish i could say THAT about johnny depp!!!!!!

rebecca said...

oh, but we are indeed kindred spirits! how i fully understand your love of books! i have been a devoted reader since i could form words. if i were to ever be stranded on a desert island and they'd ask me if i wanted an ipod or books, i'd choose books each and every time. i couldn't live without them. when hubby and i moved from our first home to our second -- 30 boxes of books we couldn't part with (he's a bookworm himself)...and that was only seven years into our marriage. we've been married now 30, so those boxes have expanded exponentially! libraries and bookstores are our treasures in life.

rayshma said...

d saddest part of moving to the US was that i cudn't carry my books with me. at least not all of them. i'm gonna have them shipped soon... :D
p.s.: treasure chests remind me of johnny depp too... *sigh*

Tumblewords: said...

Oh, books! Where would we be without them. I loved reading your thoughts and experiences about them!

Preeti Shenoy said...

Completely, fully, totally relate with you on the books thing! I agree 110 percent! :-)

Vinesh said...

i used to be able to read... suddenly one day i seemed to have lost the patience. trying to get it back, because i know what i miss!

Unknown said...

Nice to know that you have transfered reading habit to your next generation too...Most of them transfer their valuable books alone..not the habit:)

little wing writer said...

yes indeed you are so right...i would rather toss furniture, clothes...but definitely carry those boxes of books as a treasure...started reading to my son very early on...every night...pretty soon he'd grab a book himself and read...upsidedown...thank you for reminding me of lifetime of treasures..

Robin said...

My goodness, that library! My local library here in Israel is a decrepit, run down old building with a pitifully small collection. Still, it's better than nothing at all.

Jaya said...

TA, you have given your kids the best treasure they would cherish. And I know the feeling for getting curled up in a couch with a good book. I would love to do that any day. I love the quote in your blog regarding TV and books.

aMus said...

@ joy...
it IS a great feeling indeed..There are days sonny boy and i are curled up with our respective books and it is such a funny sight...one is biting her nails, 'cos teh suspense is building up, the other is making all sorts of facial contortions to match teh action in his book :)

@ Robin...
heh..he..i very well know teh feeling...Delhi too doesn't have many options...so imagine my utter delight when i find this absolutely brilliant treasure :)

aMus said...

@ little wing..
its great when we can successfully pass on the habit of reading to teh next generation...

@ nsk...
that was a perceptive comment, indeed! ...thank you :)

@ vinesh...
hope you do , vinesh... The only time i lost touch was when my sons were very small...:)

aMus said...

@ jen...
:) hard a hard time trying not to write about Johnny depp... :)

@ ps...
:)...Great minds think alike :)

@ sue..
Thank you...books are my lifeline :)

aMus said...

@ rayshma...

So you are finally meetimng up with old friends (books)...good for you...

2 rebecca...
WOW!!!...you must be having a huge collection...would love to see it one day. I too choose books over many things...

@ paisley...
heh..heh...wouldn't we all wish teh same?

@ paris parfait...
You are a book lover for sure!! :)..thanks...

@ crafty green poet...
i like your name...and a johnny depp fan too :)I like that too :)

Itchingtowrite said...

i love books too.... and u r right..book lovers never go to bed alone.. or rather anywhere- travel, loo, doc's appointment... u name it i take 1 for company

dame's diary said...

Gosh ....
Libraries open up a wonderful world for children. Here in Chennai I have found only ONE good library :(I envy you.

Solitaire said...

I agree with you 100%. I have not been able to read much since I entered a doctoral program. However, I managed to read "Eleven Minutes" during a break and have been wandering into a different world since.

Guruprasad said...

hi :

there's no greater gift that we can give our children than the 'reading habit' and the 'love for books'.

when i look back i realise that most of what i am today, my thoughts, my views, my outlook to life, has largely been shaped because of books. i am sure this is true for most people.

beautiful post.

guru

Prats said...

hey....too silent here???

aMus said...

@ITW...
:)

@ dd...
i know. ain't i lucky? in fact Delhi too lacks a good one and i used to go miles to the british council library just to get the kids into the reading groove. a few parents also got together and started a mini library of our own :)

@ solitaire...
welcome back into the world...

2 guru...
true..if not anything, you get to see a whole new world through someone else's eyes...

thank you...

and the missed post was mistakenly published...(i suspect my son or my overworked mind...) :)

Balu said...

Very nice post,Suma.

While I too endorse the habit of reading, it is solely for the joys it can bring to a person by populating his world for whatever brief time, with the lives of others.