This piece is not to pass a
judgement on that lady. For all you know, it may have been just a joke. We know for sure that that lady is a smart person working in a senior
role in a reputed multinational company. So, no comments on her intellectual capability
either.
The fact is: her remark made us
think. Really! Why read books? Information and entertainment are available in other forms too. Then, what's so great about books? I think, it's a valid question begging a serious answer. And this is the reply I would have wished to give her. Not a lecture on
the merits of reading habits in general (though I can't claim it has turned out to be something radically different than that), but a very personal account of what
books have meant to me all my life. Before I forget, a heartfelt thanks to that
neighbour, who made us understand ourselves a little better.
Witness a Beautiful
Mind
Books are an embodiment of
accumulated knowledge, thoughts, imagination and emotions of the author(s) on a
chosen set of topics. It’s an image of a beautiful mind -- the most beautiful
thing in nature. Is it the only possible image? Of course not! The beauty of
mind can reveal itself in various other forms: a picture, a movie, a play, a
sculpture, a speech, an organisation, a product, an idea, a piece of research…
I think this list is endless. Even a beautiful human relation is a creation of
a beautiful human mind.
Books, or long form writing of
any kind, is one such manifestation. It can’t be done by individual, isolated
pieces or by mere expertise in a language. The intellectual glue, the overarching
theme of the book that binds it together, and how its tiny little parts fit
together without being forced, is one of the most beautiful things I have
witnessed. This phenomenon is what keeps me picking one book after another.
It’s not necessarily a thirst for knowledge which is available in other forms
too and probably more efficient ones than books. It’s also not for
entertainment, which again, is an easily available commodity in many other
forms.
Active and Nourishing
Entertainment
There’s another reason why reading, especially reading books, is such a unique experience. The magical experience hidden in the books is a gentle and shy creature. It comes and knocks on your mind’s door only once. If you are distracted, if you aren’t attentive, you will miss that. The experience you get in reading is also possible only when you put in the active effort of searching in the words that the book is trying to project on your mind’s screen. This is active entertainment as opposed to passive ones like audio-visual or social media. On the one hand, visual content gives readymade pictures of tangible things, e.g. people, places and events, while reading, we have to conjure them in our head. On the other hand, visual medium can't present anything abstract directly, e.g. emotions and thoughts, and has to take help from their tangible manifestation, e.g. facial expressions, or visual symbols or voiceover narratives. Written words shine at presenting abstract thoughts, because these are just words; the abstract ideas they contain really take form in your head. When you are reading, you aren’t just consuming pre-digested nuggets of information and entertainment, but are actively working on it, processing it to create the experience or outcome you are seeking. This is a fundamentally effortful activity yet is capable of creating a level of relaxation not achievable through most other forms of entertainment. Its analogy in the physical domain is exercising. Of course, it’s strenuous and makes you sweat, yet it may be a more effective way of unwinding after a hectic day than watching a movie or partying hard. Reading, in short, is a co-creation process where you collaborate with the author to create your own entertainment.
Commune with Great
Minds
Many books, especially non-fiction books, have given me an exquisite experience of being in a conversation with the author. Great books don’t merely present content that has to be passively absorbed by the reader. Rather, they are written in a conversational style, goading the reader to think, agree, disagree, challenge, applaud and sometimes say ‘Eureka!’. An intense reading session has often left me with an aftertaste of having conversed with a great mind.
Long Term Assimilation
I have found my mind chewing on the extracts from a book long after I am done reading it; and through years, assimilating ideas from multiple books. This, though not completely unique with books, is definitely the most prevalent in the case of books, and happens much less frequently with, say, movies.
An Elevating Escape from the Mundane
Books are also an escape — from
a reality that sometimes tends to get too monotonous and dreary, where
sometimes one tends to feel like a prisoner — of ordinary, practical, worldly
and socially acceptable ways. You can escape into the world of science fiction or fantasy. You can travel into a Utopian or dystopian future, or deep into the past ages. You can work alongside a detective to investigate a gruesome murder, or you can feel the passions of a lover. On a different, more intellectual, note, you can immerse yourself deep into subjects of science, philosophy and art. This escape, unlike many others, doesn’t
intoxicate you, doesn’t create dependence. Instead, it shows you how liberating it is to forget
yourself and your ordinary selfish life by immersing yourself into loftier
issues and subjects. Such an escape, even if
temporary, cleanses you, leaves you perceptive of a reality beyond yourself. This is soul-nourishing.
