Readers Write In #855: From movies back to books and feeling the magic of books!

By Ashwin Kumar

Most people drink, some smoke, I watch movies. That’s what I used to say. Movies were my addiction until recently.  I used to also claim that I “graduated” to movies from books. I didn’t realize then that instead of me being a director and visualizing the settings and characters, I had become lazy merely consuming visuals in movies 🙂

At one point, I was watching six movies a day on weekends!

About ten years ago, I met an elderly person who told me, “You’ll come back to books, don’t worry.” And that’s exactly what’s happening now. It was not that I had completely stopped reading books. Around 2017-18 I read a lot of books but those had to do more with my professional life and I read to stay ahead of the curve and learn stuff for me to shine at work and I realize now not for joy.

Now I’ve rediscovered my love for books, not fiction but non-fiction. I just finished the book Human Kind which I ordered after  Director Ram recommended it during his interview with BR. It was a fantastic read and left with so many reflections and a deeper understanding of the world around me.

I read just 15 minutes in the morning, sometimes just a single line, but that line sparked I provoked me to connect to two or three other concepts, or to my lived experiences. I started sharing insights with my wife leading to discussions, and even debates!

The difference between a book and a movie or a YouTube video is striking. With a video, you rarely pause to think and you are always in a rush to move forward, sometimes even fast-forwarding. Books, on the other hand, invite you to pause, to linger over a line, to let it sit with you. And that, I think, is magical.

Writing this blog also gave me a chance to reflect on how I discovered books in the first place  and what kinds of books I used to read as a child

Like many kids of the 80s, I began with Indrajal Comics. I devoured Phantom, Mandrake, Tarzan, even the lesser-known Flash Gordon. Alongside that, there was Amar Chitra Katha and Tinkle, which were staples of that time. Then came Tintin, a big favorite and Asterix & Obelix, which I relished as well. And Indrajal itself wasn’t just about Phantom, Mandrake. It was a whole universe – Bahadur, the Indian hero fighting dacoits, Rip Kirby the detective, Buz Sawyer the adventurer, Garth the time-traveller,Mike Nomad. Even side characters like Lothar became larger than life. Indrajal was more than comics; it was a gateway – Indian storytelling and international adventures bundled into those thin, colorful magazines. I read recently somewhere that Phantom was the first ever superhero in costume kinda character

Along with the comics, I moved on to Enid Blyton’s Famous Five, which I enjoyed thoroughly (though I could not connect with my first  Secret Seven). Next came Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew. By college, I had discovered Frederick Forsyth, Irving Wallace, and later Jeffrey Archer. Meanwhile Sportstar kept me busy and I found myself reading, re- reading interviews of the stars 🙂

And I must confess 🙂 that there was also a brief adolescent phase when magazines like Debonair and Fantasy found their way onto my reading list. Let’s just say it was part of growing up!

So yes, I’ve come full circle. Movies gave me joy, but books are giving me depth. In just fifteen minutes of reading each day, I get a richness of thought that movies rarely leave me with. And maybe that’s what the elderly lady meant,  that books have a way of calling you back when you’re ready for them. Would be great to hear from people about their journey of books and what it meant to them!