Book-mad!

So, while the past month, or two, has served to keep me on my toes and a wee bit too tied up to write, the time has been well utilized to catch up on my reading. If there is one thing I lament, it is not having enough time to read...I sometimes get so desperate I start reading whatever is printed on juice or milk packets, or whatever comes my way!

Weird? Slightly mad? That would be me, when it comes to reading. I remember getting jugged all the way back in primary school, for reading in class. Ah, what a lovely time that used to be...sitting in the back benches, with a book open on my lap, sneaking in a paragraph or two when the teacher was looking the other way...getting so completely absorbed in the book that I would tune out pretty much everything around me. Many is the time someone's had to reach over and give me a shake to get my attention. Come to think of it, this might be what triggered my 'reputation' for being absentminded in school!

Made it to college, and there I loved the freedom to lug as many books as I wanted over to the library, when I decided to give classes a miss (erm...if you are still in school, or college, please not to follow my example!). I would never be without a book tucked under my arm, or in my bag, and would flip it open at the drop of a hat. At home, I would be curled up on the stairs to the terrace, where it was cool and quiet, devouring some book or the other. I remember, my introduction to Wodehouse came just before a set of exams, when I was helping to unpack and air some of my parents old books. Thereon, I would always have a Wodehouse tucked into the side of my chair, to sneak a break when the studying got a little too much for me!

Books were always an escape, a means to enter another reality, a means to relax and let go of anything that happened to be dogging my heels. There's nothing like the feel, and smell, of a book to keep you company while you read, while you relax! Ever since I started work. my handy book would always be open whenever I was commuting to a customer's office, riding an elevator or while sitting on the back of a bike / car, in traffic. Dragging myself home after a night shift, I would still need to read a few pages before I gave in and slept. Most of the time, this was done in the dim light of a zero-lamp, so as not to disturb my roommate!

Nowadays, with my increased traveling, I get to read in transit and while on the plane...often to the detriment of my sleep! At home, I don't getaway with too much reading into the night since the lights keep Faz awake. Hence I have now given in to technology and started using ebooks...digitized books that I load onto my PDA, and scroll away to glory wherever I may be! No doubt my eyes are in for it, but the pull of a good book is always hard to resist.

*Sigh* I have to go....my book calls...I have to find out what happens next!