First Love

           As the world is still basking in valentine mood, here I am blogging about my first love which co-incidentally struck my mind yesterday. And I realised how much I have missed it. Well, I am not leading you to any guessing game. My first love has always been books. I might not be an avid reader but I am a reader and I enjoy books. My idea of perfect day is an engaging novel, few bar of chocolates in faraway land away from others.

         Since my childhood I have been a reader. I do not know how I fell in love with reading. May be I was my family especially my father who is reader himself. When I was small, I read a lot of tamizh magazines and books as my father was reading them. May be it started from there. And my maternal grandmother is a reader too. I remember whenever we went to my grandmother’s place, i would go to her book attic( back then there was no shelves in her place), grab some Tamizh novels and sit in a corner and start reading them. I was not bothered that i had already read some of the books. As much as I enjoyed playing all the typical outdoor games children play, I always had time for books. In fact, I had the habit of reading while eating much to the dismay of my mother. Until,  few years ago, I had the habit and now I eat either in front of my lappy or television which is worse.

       As I moved to secondary school, I was reading a lot of books and was a prominent person in Program Membaca( Reading Programme) . Both my brother and I were the winners of the reading competition and teachers especially my Malay teacher paid so much of attention to us and guided us. ( But, I cheated too by copying the synopsis and presenting as though I had read the books). And today I am the NILAM (Nadi Ilmu Amalan Membaca) teacher in school J. During my secondary school phase, my father started encouraging our reading interest by buying newspapers in 3 languages. He used to buy Star( English), Berita Harian (Malay) and Nanban (Tamizh). So, every weekend, all of us would be sitting in a corner with a newspaper. And my mother used to get so mad at me for not helping her in the kitchen:p

         During my time in Sydney, I read a lot and started buying second hand books and build my own collection. But now, due to the hectic working life I have distanced myself from books. Though, I have started subscribing Reader’s Digest I feel I am not doing enough to quench my thirst. Recently, I had to read a novel since it is part of the Literature  Component for my students and as a teacher it is imperative to read. I opened the book after dinner sat on the corner of my bed and finished it before I went to bed. That is when I realised the reader in me is still there and all I have to do is get some books. Strange enough I was browsing Mph website and an Indian writer’s page when I realised that I seriously need to get some books. In fact though I started  reading Tamizh books before anything else, as I grew old my priority shifted.  But Thank God I have found the love back. So I am planning to get at least 5 books. They are   :

ஏழாம் உலகம் - ஜெயமோகன்

ஒரு மனிதன் ஒரு வீடு ஒரு உலகம்- ஜெயகாந்தன் 

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