Campus Musings

Account of a Bookworm

Rakibul Hasan
Photo: Kazi Tahsin Agaz Apurbo

Lazying around with a book!

“Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.”
¯ Charles William Eliot (American academic)

What can be more pleasurable than relaxing with a book and a cup of hot tea inside the comfort of your home when it is raining in torrents outside? This Eid vacation was a time for me to have some good reads. The university had finally closed down for the holidays and despite the looming threats of exams, assignment deadlines and tutorials just after the holidays, I decided to indulge myself completely into the world of books. Fortunately or unfortunately, this year it had been a rainy Eid-ul-Fitr, so I had the perfect excuse to stay home during Eid holidays and enjoy the works of my favourite authors.

I have been a bookworm from a very young age. When I was at school, I used to save up from my pocket money and buy books (especially paperbacks published from the Sheba Publication and Chacha Chowdhury comics) at the end of every month. So it was only natural that I grew up loving the smell of new books.

Reading can get addictive and it is possibly the best addiction one could ever have. Since reading offers both fun and information, it is up to the readers to maintain a balance between reading fictions and non-fictions (i.e. textbooks) to make the most out of this addictive habit. In my case, I love to read just about anything from books, magazines to newspapers and sometimes even telephone directories! I remember getting caught by my parents several times while reading books which were apparently meant to be for the adults! Even today the bookshelves and every available space of my room are crammed with all types of books ranging from thrillers, horrors, romance to historical fictions and books on science and social science.

I recently read a wonderful novel titled 'Sonar Shikol' by Samaresh Majumdar. It is about a Bangladeshi expatriate youth who ends up in New York illegally and is always on the run to avoid getting arrested by the police. Just after reading the first few lines of the book, I got hooked to it and had to complete the whole book in one sitting.

Until the other day, I believed that I had already read every book written by Humayun Ahmed. It is only when I discovered a book named 'Anil Bagchir Ekdin' in a cramped bookshelf at one of my friends', I realised that I was still missing out on one of the literary masterpieces by this great author. I borrowed the book and sank into the perceptive narrative style of Humayun Ahmed. The book, 'Anil Bagchir Ekdin', narrates the tale of strife by a youth named Anil Bagchi during the tumultuous days of liberation war.

It is quite amazing how books enable us to expand our imagination during different time periods of our lives. I suppose there is no count of the youngsters who got inspired to go on expeditions after reading 'The Adventures of Tom Sawyer' by Mark Twain. Books like 'Three Comrades' by Erich Maria Remarque still enlighten us about the significance of friendship in life. The speciality of the books lie in the fact that it broadens our mental horizon and let us make a vivid picture of the topic that is being read.

Gone are those days when the trend of borrowing books from friends was hip amongst youngsters. In fact, a popular rumour once had it that, most of the books owned by famous author Mark Twain were actually borrowed from friends, which he never returned! Nowadays, most of our free time is consumed by social networking websites, television, computer games or some other modern gadget. Many would complain that there is simply not enough time to read books. However, the beauty of the wonderful pastime of reading books is that it can be pursued just about anywhere. Thanks to technology, books can now also be read in electronic forms via gadgets like Kindle or through electronic book-reader softwares which can be installed in computers or even on mobile phones. So next time, be it in a long traffic jam, waiting hopelessly inside a vehicle or during the leisure time between classes, just read a book and feel the magic!