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| Part of my design book shelf |
“Why have you stopped
blogging?”, is a question I am asked often. It feels very stupid to say that I don’t find
enough time. Well today, I have pulled out time to share my systematically planned love for books :)
Whenever I tell someone that I bought this particular book, the first
reaction is – Oh! Books are so expensive! Then I think, isn’t buying a car,
expensive? Isn’t Prada or a Gucci
expensive? Isn’t a body shop product expensive? Then why exclamations only for
books?!
You change your car when it gets old, but old books are rare treasures.
You need to take care of your branded products, but books take care of you.
Books never get over; in turn they keep filling you up. Then, I am also asked
questions like why books when all information is available on the internet? Better
leave the question, unanswered! How shall I explain that a book is an
experience and cannot be browsed on the internet!
I was never a good reader nor am I one today. But I enjoy reading. And
recently I have started enjoying it more. It is kind of magical. It is like
love. Like Maurice Sendak says:
“A book is
really like a lover. It arranges itself in your life in a way that is
beautiful.”
This is what exactly the books have done to me.
I started making my own little library since 2007.
I would buy 1 or 2 books a year from my saving. This little library took a
pause for a few years when paying bills would take up every bit. Then things started taking
shape and it was time to focus on my library. As Rome was not built in a day,
similarly a library needs years of hardwork and passion. It needs a systematic plan of investment. Since more than a year now, I have made it a point to buy one book every month. One thing I learnt differently from
the SIP’s or the EMI’s is that an SIP for books is definitely exciting and enriching
one! It is an investment where you get unlimited returns forever.
Past year, I have mostly bought design books – textile design in particular. Few I have purchased from the fountain market,
few from flipkart/amazon and few from craft exhibitions. Few books I already
had in mind since my studies at JJ and NID and few are the ones I stumbled upon client’s
desk.
With
Picasso, Dali, VanGogh and Klimt already on shelf, art is a completely
different treasure to explore. And now my wishlist of books is never ending.
“So many books, so little
time.”
-
Frank Zappa
This is so true!
In 2013, I happened to attend a poetry reading
session at the Kalaghoda festival where contemporary poets like Ranjit Hoskote, Jerry Pinto, Mustansir Dalvi, Christine Herzer and many more read their poetry. I never knew poetry would be so much more magical! Since then, I have explored a bit of Neruda, Gibran and few Indian
anthologies. I love getting lost in Neruda’s …
Here is an excerpt from love sonnet xvii:
I love you without knowing how, or when or from
where,
I love you directly without problems or pride:
I love you like this because I don’t know any other
way to love
except in this form, in which I am not nor are you,
so close that your hand upon my chest is mine,
so close that your eyes close with my dreams.
