A positive distraction in lockdown times

THE WORDY GOODIES

WERE LIKE DREAMS THAT I COULD HOLD IN MY HANDS

The news of Gulshan Ewing’s passing away at the age of 92 in London last month, took me back to the good old days of the early ’70s. She was then the editor of Eve’s Weekly, one of my favourite magazines. It almost felt as if she’d been a close acquaintance! After all, hadn’t she talked to me through her magazine every week; and how I would lap up the whole issue from cover to cover!

Even though I was a student at that time, a big chunk of my leisure was invested in extra reading. For me it was the best form of entertainment; most satisfying and enlightening. Along with Eve’s Weekly, the other magazines that provided the much-needed food for the soul and mind were JS, Illustrated Weekly of India, Mirror, Femina and Reader’s Digest. In fact, these were staple diet for the mind. How I thrived on them! Of course, the daily newspapers complemented them.

All these wordy goodies were like dreams that I could hold in my hands. Curling up with any of these was the most enviable treat on the planet for me.

It’s not that my studies ever suffered on this account. Reading for pleasure was rather an incentive for me to work hard and excel in studies so that my parents would not discourage this passion.

Once during the summer vacation, I had gone to visit my paternal aunt’s family for a month. When I started back from there, I was so excited at the prospect of seeing a collection of unread magazines, waiting for me. Nothing else could ever surpass the value of good reading material for me, be it books, magazines or newspapers.

It holds true even today. Whenever I have spare time, something good to read takes precedence over anything else.

I was always an avid reader. As they say, children become readers in the lap of their parents, I too was initiated into this habit by my father. Eventually, he would compliment me on the speed of my reading.

He gave a lot of importance to reading for pleasure and introduced me to the ‘middles’ in newspapers as well, when I was still very young. Though now these pieces often surprise you with their variety of unpredictable habitats i.e. top left or right corner and even different pages of the newspaper. So much so that sometimes one fears missing them altogether, what with their having adopted a nomad’s way of life!

One can say it with conviction that no pleasure is as eternal as that of reading. It is also one of the choicest options that one would wish for, as a positive distraction during these lockdown times and solitude.