LOVE BOOKS
I almost donated my books
I get carried away easily. The other day, I saw a post by a neighbor in our residential WhatsApp group. It mentioned that they had an extensive collection of books available, children’s books to fiction and academic works and said that people interested can take these from them for reading.
It is summer vacation in Mumbai, and many parents struggle to keep their kids occupied during the two long months. For middle-class families, their annual vacation meant visiting their hometowns to spend time with parents and relatives. With so much free time, kids often resort to watching TV or surfing Netflix.
Back when I was growing up, there wasn’t much to watch on our black-and-white TV, except for the occasional weekend movie or the serialized epic Mahabharat once a week, so I read books. The librarian would often tease me for my voracious reading habits, announcing to everyone that “the girl has finished reading all the books here” and suggesting I read the encyclopedia. Though I wasn’t sure what an encyclopedia was at 12, I could sense the sarcasm in his tone and avoided the towering stack of black-bound books on the top shelf. He even hinted there are “adult books” that I can read, and for several days I stopped going to the library.
However, when I came across the WhatsApp message from my neighbor, I felt the urge to propose starting a library through our building management and offer my book collection as a donation. I typed out the message but hesitated to send it. Then I deleted it as I looked at my cherished collection of books.
My collection includes a wide variety of genres: fiction, non-fiction, management, literature, classic novels, Nobel Prize-winning works, poetry, historical volumes and even the complete works of Shakespeare. While some are in my mother tongue, the majority are in English. As I ran my fingers over the books, their musty scent of antiquity stirred something deep within me.
For years, I had curated a vast collection of digital books in the WPS Office. However, when WPS underwent a version change a few years ago, I forgot to transfer my collection to the new version. A year later when I updated my iOS, the old version of WPS became no longer compatible, and I lost my entire digital library.
I am used to passing of loved ones and the transitions of their life paths, but losing my books is not something I can deal with at the moment. I don’t like anyone touching or looking at my book collection. A blessing of sorts has prevented me from donating my book collection and as I write this, I glance at the bookshelf; a fear grips me, when I transition, my books perhaps would be left alone in this world.
