Thursday, September 04, 2008




A good book is a loneliest boy's best friend!

WHEN I was a little boy, my house didn't have much in terms of reading materials. One reason was because my dad could ill afford them.

When he was in a book-buying mood, he ended up purchasing the entire Grolier encyclopedia which wasn't exactly easy reading material.

On some days when my mind thirst for knowledge, I extracted a volume and gamely took on a project bigger than my brain could handle. I was more inclined towards literature that stimulated my imagination.

I was looking for creative expressions of writers who could lead me down paths of wondrous discoveries. Alas, the encyclopedia wasn't my cup of tea at that tender age.

There some preschool fairy tale booklets which I figured I had outgrown years ago but my hunger for knowledge was so acute that I swore in silence that one day I would have enough books in my possession to last me for the next 50 years.

Many moons have come and gone since. Today, my book shelves are stacked with scores of books yet unread but I know if one day when I am bored, I won't be looking frantically for reading material because my "library" has been built and the "guests" are waiting for me.

Throughout history, it has been revealed that some of the best literary minds are those who grew up with books as their only companions. I wish I had those kind of friends but I was destined to find them only in my later years.

But I did find them eventually. Books continue to be one of my greatest passions, not because I find them so utterly fascinating but because the written word opens vistas of new frontiers when my physical form could not overcome.

The journey of life must first be taken to uncharted territories by the mind then the heart follows, and eventually the body will follow suit.

But knowledge gained isn't of much used until it is applied. Thus, a wise man once said, knowledge must not only be attained, it must also be utilised for the good of oneself and better still for the good of mankind.

The mind is like a storehouse of unlimited potential. It is in our quiet moments that we absorb bits of information at a dramatic rate. When our heartbeat slows down and the mind is at its most relaxed state, knowledge flows in like the fresh water from the mountain.

Our mind is the valley that welcomes the rivers of information that follows inexorably.

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