The Joy of Reading

My elder boy has always been an avid reader. I suppose the home environment has a strong influence on him. His parents would be having a book, a periodical or newspaper in hand whenever they could afford the time. Not so for my younger boy, who is a very active boy and never could quite sit still.

We feel that it is just that he has not found the "right" book. A few weeks ago, he found the "right" genre. The book was Do-It-Yourself Wimpy Kid. He has been doodling and asking for me to spell out certain words so that he could complete his own comics strips. Another fave activity of his would be "hangman". He would carefully count and draw the dashes for each word, add a space in between intervening words, to prepare for the game. Thereafter, he invited us - his parents - to play with him.

Recently, he branched out to more conventional books - Geronimo Stilton. He asked his mother, that's me why I did not read his books. To which, I told him that mummy has her own favorite books which stimulated her thinking.

It led me to think about the subjects I enjoy. I have a very broad interest - economics, mathematics, sociology, criminology, international relations and sometimes even physics. They broadened my perspectives a great deal. Most importantly and the reason I could sustain reading as a hobby must be the joy they brought to me. A very recent example will be the recent US politics - with Democrat trying to spend more and Republican trying to cut taxes (especially for the wealthest). It was almost nonsensical with such trival tussle playing out in the fore of their domestic front, US today is still the world's superpower. I remembered the twin-deficit of the US which I have studied in Macroeconomics. When I proved that it worked, I was smiling at the disbelief and yet with a tinge of marvel. This is US, a land of opportunity, a land of innovation, a land where impossible becomes possible.

Reading is a discovery of the many magic around the world. It is the best gift you can ever give to someone. For through reading, one's thinking will open like a parachute. And once opened, it will never be the same.