PLEASURES OF READING
Pleasures of reading are pleasures of ever. One who enjoys pleasures of reading needs no other pleasures. One who is the friend of books needs no other friend. Books are our nearest and dearest friend. They are our kith and kin. We can depend upon books for the right advice at all times and climbs of life. There is nothing superior to the pleasure of reading, whether a person is young or old.
Milton said, “A book is a bloodless substitute of a man”. That means a book is a full friend only it has no body and bones. But has brains. It can give you the best and the brightest piece of an advice under any difficult circumstance. As another poet said:
My days among the dead are past,
Around me I behold,
Whenever these casual eyes are cast,
The rightly minds of old;
My never-failing friends are they,
With whom I converse day by day.
To a truly educated man, books provide the greatest of pleasures. Unfortunately, most of the people today are not properly educated. They are just literate, not educated. They have no love for books. They begin to hate books after they get through the examinations, by hook or by crook, by fair or foul means. But they are only educated fools.
Reading of books broadens the horizon of our knowledge and deepens our outlook on life. It eliminates our prejudices and illumines our mind with truth and knowledge. Books are our truest and bluest friend. They never desert us in our difficulties. They keep our company in all our trials, troubles, toils, turmoil’s and tribulations. They never leave us in the lurch at any time. Books make a lasting impression on our minds.
Books make our world bright and light up our souls with brilliant ideas. They embody the wisdom of the ages. The sages of all ages have left their foot-prints on the sands of time through the books. By reading immortal books of immortal authors we feel imported into kingdoms of new joy and adventure. We become free from all worries and cares. A sweet forgetfulness overtakes our minds and souls.
It is through books that we become acquainted with great minds like those of Kalidas, Patanjali, Lord Krisha, Shakespeare, Shelly, Keats and others. Our Vedas embody the wisdom of thousands of years. By reading these books we may say to have lived for thousands of years ourselves. Life is nothing but the sum total of experiments and experiences. Only our ideas and results of our action go with us when we shuffle off the mortal coil. Everything else is left behind. Reading is the best means of spending your leisure. It is the pleasure of leisure and leisure of pleasure. Every great book is a treasure of leisure and pleasure. The books like Bhagwad Gita can be read again and again with the greatest pleasure and you find new meaning in its verse and slokas as you brood and think over them. Books are our best friend both in poverty and prosperity. Books alone are dependable when all other friends become undependable. They give us the best company at home and are our fellow travelers on our journeys at home and abroad.
“A good book”, said Milton rightly, “is the precious life-blood of a master-spirit embalmed and treasure upon purpose to all life beyond life”.