Evolution of my Reading over the years: A Genre(ational) change

They say a story read with complete attention eventually grows on you. Tell me who doesn’t do that. And here I was absorbing stories like they were my portal to a magical world. They actually were. And I for one always looked forward to taking a trip around a different world. A new world. Action Fiction was my go-to genre those days and stayed with me for many years. Having a range of titles by an author to pick from was similar to discovering your favourite Web-series today with multiple seasons already released! Why didn’t you discover it sooner? Where was this series hiding all this while? Similar questions would pop-up in your head too when discovering that the author of the book you just enjoyed reading actually has a whole line-up of titles already penned and waiting on some shelf, only to be found by you. 

My life had changed for the better as I realised I now had access to a source of seemingly unlimited wealth. The wealth of knowledge so to say. Or information. Or entertainment. Call it what you will, depending on the book I laid my hands on. And all of it was for free. Well almost. My father would obviously bear the library fees. :D

One of the many good things that turned out for me as a result of my love for reading is that my curiosity about everything under the Sun was fanned by the stories I came about. There would be some words that I’d never heard of and that made me look it up in the dictionary. It has certainly helped expand my vocabulary. As I learnt the meanings of these words it also helped me visualise further applications of the words in scenarios I was yet to read about or experience. In a way, that expands your recognition of the world around you even if it may take some time for you to understand it well. This gradually evolved over time as school progressed and I headed closer to college.

This also led to the introduction of a wide variety of subjects and scenarios to me that opened me up to discovering some genres that have since then become an inseparable part of my range of reading. Non-Fiction. Some of the key sources of my new-found curiosity came from a mix of genres. History being one of the most prominent one. This would typically happen when I would come across a piece of history intertwined in a story. Same goes for the subjects of Human Relationships and Evolution of Life. Any mention of relationship terms that I’d never heard of before or did not understand made me curious to know more to understand it better and prompted me search for more information on it. Some of the books I read at the time that made me explore the subjects further were – Roots by Alex Haley and the Alvin Toffler series of - The Third Wave, Power Shift & Future Shock.

Internet was yet to happen to the world. So there was no way I could simply pick up my mobile and ‘Google’ the query that popped up in my head about that juicy piece of history I just read. But I did have the source of all information - The Library. And so the trips to the books-magnet continued. It wasn’t possible to visit every day with the post-school homework & home-study and spending evenings playing around with friends whenever someone was available. But weekends was different. Papa was available in most weekends and we could club my library visits with his trips to the CSD canteen or the RSI etc. He would drop me off for a few hours and pick me up by lunch time. That would be enough for me to refresh my weekly stock of fresh reading. Of course, kids were limited to one book at a time and I never was a voracious reader as such – I would take my own sweet time reading the lines slowly, absorbing the storyline, at times distracting myself with an extended version going off-shoot before getting back to where I left the story off and resuming the read with fresh vigour. But while at the library I would take my time browsing through the line of books from my favourite authors, reading the summary at the back of each book to ‘visualise’ the story as best as I could to arrive at my choice of the day to take home for the week. In later years as my reading improved - both in comprehension & speed – I would choose longer stories and keep the book for two weeks instead of one.

Stories around human relationships have always intrigued me a lot. So did history. After all, what is history if not a record of human relationships? I’ve always found it interesting when I come across scenarios in a story where the protagonist goes through certain experiences that seem similar to mine. Different experiences at different ages of course. The interesting part was when I compared my thoughts to understand & address a challenging situation I would find myself in with those of the protagonist in a similar situation. The line of thought followed by the protagonist would appeal to me most if it turned out to be different from my own. One, it would offer a different view and helped me expand my thoughts to keep an open mind and perceive a situation differently from what I may be used to in the usual course of time. Second, it would appeal to me a lot if I came across a unique way in which a similar situation was addressed. Again, that expanded my thought process to not just expand my world of perceptions but also be open to learn skills that could help me handle things better. I believe a lot of us have had similar thoughts running through our heads not just in our early days of reading but even today. It’s a process that evolves & refines itself over time. And of course, the choice of books we pick to read.

History has appealed to me the most for a variety of reasons. For one, there is so much that has happened in the past that at times the present seems bland in comparison. Despite all the ‘so called advancements’. Evolution of human relationships, lifestyles, community structures, expanse of thought – or its limitation, philosophy, inventions, sense of ownership & duty, forms of expression, and so much more. At the core of it all though I feel the human psyche has been consistent in some aspects that are at the core of our overall view of ourselves. Our purpose in the universe. Our need to relate to others and the desire for them to relate to us, all of it forms our collective set of aspirations at personal, occupational and social levels. Some of the basic things are similar across species. Partnering with the opposite gender for procreation and continuity of species. That itself being the foundation for human life has led us to form individual identities, vocations, skills all of which further extrapolated to communities, villages, towns, cities, kingdoms and now countries.

Along the way language developed & evolved as a means of communication & expression. Indigenous tribes over time have built unique forms of recording the information & knowledge acquired over time, in various forms. Mostly written for preservation in some form of ‘hard copy’. In some cases spoken and passed on from one generation to the next over millennia. All through our human journey we have had a wide range of experiences. From the most amazing to the most disgusting. All have been learnings for the whole of humanity, irrespective of which part of the world it took place in. But here’s the thing. Information did not flow as easily ages ago as it does today. It has gone through its own learning curve with time as everything else. As technology evolved it facilitated flow of information farther & faster. Too much information exists for any one of us to read, analyse & learn from. That’s why computers evolved. And now AI is facilitating the next level of information processing.

As the momentum of change gathers speed, one thing will always be constant. The joy of putting your legs up and burying your head in a book. Anytime. Anywhere. Contd…