Syed Mustafa Ahmad
A book is a man’s best companion. In the midst of calamities, it is the book that helps a lot in coming out winning. The book has been us with us since a long time ago. The civilized nations in the world have proved it meticulously. In Israel, a student reads forty books a year apart from his or her academic books. Before the Covid-19, in Jammu and Kashmir, there almost was no concept of book reading. Everyone used to lose the sight of books. Books used to kill them. Buying a book was a distant dream. But in the Covid-19 pandemic, the students as well as adults have begun to come close to books. As there is no facility of internet in Jammu and Kashmir, spending time has become an issue. Virtual chatting has given more tention. Social media have created havoc in our lives. So, in this situation, the alternative of books is good one. Reading books has many advantages apart from time consumption. These advantages are being in the following lines. The first advantage is that we know about the world in terms of numbers. We begin to know that the world is very wide and we are very small creatures. There are eight billion people in the world and I am one of them. There is a change in perception. The second advantage is that we know many facts. Existing knowledge is upgraded or it is rectified. Facts help to live a good life. So, reading books give life a meaning. The third advantage is that patience comes in our life. Reading books for hours make it possible that we should become patient. Moreover, patience is unimportant if we don’t keep a healthy attitude while having patience. So, book reading teaches us patience and the patience grooms our lives. The fourth advantage of this is that we become good personalities. In other sense, we become the enlightened personalities. Our inner and outer is enlightened. We become conscious of the life. We begin to know the realities of things in a minute manner. Truth comes in front of us in its truest colours. In this way, we become spiritually uplifted. No worry or happiness leaves any effect on us.
We begin to introspect. We hate hypocrites. We don’t change loyalties then. We become dedicated to a single cause. We live for a single cause.
The fifth advantage of this is that we become social persons. We enjoy the companies of those whom we know don’t know. But we undergo through the experiences of the different persons, with different tastes and become mixed personalities with many shades. The sixth advantage of this according to my opinion is that we become revolutionaries. Any revolution in the world can prove valuable for us. We know the process as well as the purpose of a revolution. We get acquainted with the fact that why revolution occurs. In this way, we mend our ways. We begin to introspect. We hate hypocrites. We don’t change loyalties then. We become dedicated to a single cause. We live for a single cause. In this way, books are very helpful.In this piece of writing, I restrict myself to the books. Magazines, journals and newspapers also come in this domain. The need if the hour is to learn more and more books. Stephen King, Shahnaz Bashir, Mahjoor, Samad Mir, Arundhati Roy, Adnan Oktar, Orya Maqbool Jan, Raghuram Rajan, Anita Desai, etc., should be read at the earliest.
(The author is a freelancer and writes regularly for Kashmir Horizon. Views are his own) [email protected]
