I have strived to be
'relevant' my whole life!
This realisation hit
me recently when I was adding books to my Goodreads "Read" list. I
came across a vlog/ blog where this person had suggested that having a
'Goodreads' list is a great motivator to read more. I had a Goodreads account
already which I primarily use to read reviews of the books I want to read. I
thought their suggestion made sense. I started recollecting the books I've read
through my life so far and added them to Goodreads. Suddenly, I realised
that I have way too many classics on my list!
It was never
deliberate. My mom introduced me to them. I remember the first time I ever read
them. In fact, I have written about this multiple times in the past. The first
book I read in my life was this English translation of "The Count of Monte
Christo" by Alexander Dumas which I found on one of my uncles' bookshelf.
The more books my mom got me, the more I fell in love with them. Eventually,
all the kids in my class would discuss Nancy Drew and 'Sidney Sheldon'- while
all I knew was Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters!
I then realised that
I must start reading books that can help me have a decent conversation with
kids my age. I started reading Enid Blyton, Harry Potter books (which I fell in
love with)- and kept reading more relevant books. I did find a few good book-loving friends through my undergrad days. Some of them were familiar with the
works of one of my favourite author Alister MacLean even!
If I ever manage to
write an autobiography, I think I would have "Chapters" or
"Phases" in it named after authors. After my classics phase, I had an
'Ayn Rand' phase. Then a 'Sylvia Plath' phase which thankfully got transformed
and I entered into the 'Paulo Coelho' phase and so on…
Mythologies to
pseudo-mythologies. Sci-Fi and Fantasies. I kept reading and strived hard to
stay relevant.
These days, I just
read. I have stopped trying to be relevant. I like reading. And I like reading
the books I like reading. I have realised that- relevance, doesn't matter…
