Books are human's best teacher and guide. There is no doubt in that and I'm not going to convince you that ‘why’ should you read books. If you want to change the world, if you have that spark in your heart you must be already loving books or at least finding ways to learn more and be a better person. So let's talk about what kind of books should you read. I was 11 when my Hindi teacher told me that books can be bad. I was surprised to hear that. For me who loved books, there was nothing like ‘bad’ books. Books are the hidden treasures of knowledge. How can you call a book bad? (The only books I have known about at that time were classics by authors like Shakespeare, Leo Tolstoy, Charles Dickens and the biographies.) I got a mini heart attack and I stared at her for the whole class. When I went back home, I forgot all about it after I had my lunch. How to do the assignments became my first priority and the topic was long forgotten until I made an account on an online writing website called ‘Wattpad’. There the thirteen-year-old me was exposed to a whole new world. It was free and I got to tell no one what I'm reading (which at first excited me because I thought all the 18+ books had some hidden ideas about the world that they didn't want the kids to know about). So now... Imagine me who wanted to know the secrets of the world gets to know that 18+ books meant ‘high-level romance’ (in most cases). I was dumbfounded when my teacher's word rang in my ears. ‘Books can be bad.’ (I am not calling romance bad, I just didn't know about it. Read ahead before hating me.) Soon I started writing novels on Wattpad and my ideas were exposed to the world. People praised me and criticized me. I met many people who called themselves amateur writers (but I call them dreamers) and I learned about how a book gets written. An author pours his soul through the words on a paper and leaves himself vulnerable to the world's opinion. It takes a lot of courage and motivation because it isn't a road to one-night success. You fail so harshly before you could see the stars. All you got is yourself and the characters living in your mind whose stories you just ‘have to’ share with the world. Once a book is written, it's the audience who decides fate of that story and the author. Finding the right audience is very important. It makes or breaks one's writing career. No book is bad. I still believe in that. But there's a catch. What type of audience are you? When an interviewer asked Bill Gates what kind of books he reads, he replied “I used to read fiction, science fiction novels earlier but as I grew up. I started reading more self-help books, autobiographies and non-fiction because it's what tells me what's happening in the world.” So let me ask you. What type of reader are you? Are you someone who sleeps on her sofa all-day and dream about the Prince Charming or a bank robbery? Or are you a future millionaire? The choice is yours. The books you read defines you and the thoughts that brew up in your mind are actually the motivation your muscles need. Are you ready to fight the world and change it? Or are you someone who just wants to escape this mundane world? The choice is definitely yours.
Reading fiction is not a bad thing. If you have an open mind, you can learn from everywhere. Don't read the books to just escape reality, read them to learn what you can do to make this world a better place. It is the main motive of this article.
Hogwarts was not just a school which we all wanted to attend. JK Rowling taught us about bravery, friendship and uniqueness too. In fact, she herself inspires us a lot. She didn't accepted the 'NO' the publishers pushed at her. She kept going till she finally saw her dream in her hands and gifted us a school we all dream about.
Once again I'd like to say this... It is not the books that are good or bad. It is you and what type of reader you are. It was you from the beginning and it will be you till the end who will decide it.
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