Why books?

It is a thought that has been crossing my mind for the past few days. Though I have recently been at a distance, I've loved reading books for quite some time now. When I think about the kind of books I like, it is very hard to classify them by genres, authors or any category. From the way I have been reading, I have enjoyed books spanning a wide variety. For me, I believe, it boils down to the way it is expressed, the way it is narrated.

And that brought me to think why do I love reading books. Why do I love watching movies. I am not sure but I feel it may apply to a vast majority of readers.

I love being told stories. I love being taught. I love being mentored and guided. As we grow, the figures in our life that teach us, that guide us, that show compassion for us, people that we turn to, are not with us anymore (rather, we are not with them anymore :) ). We have grown up, instilled beliefs, notions, developed mindsets and frameworks we live within. Nevertheless, whether we express it or not, we still need our mentors, our father figures, people we can talk to without being judged, people who can look into our eyes and tell us that we have faltered, people who can pat on our back and say, Good job!, people we know will be there for us inspite of us taking them for granted.

We need all of those wonderful selfless folks who we can turn to with the same child-like innocence we once had.

Unfortunately, depending on where we are at in life, emotionally, geographically or in terms of age, we dont have them.

And that is why I believe we turn to books, movies - our surrogate mentors, teachers, friends and more, filling in for the void of compassion, knowledge, wisdom and most importantly, a shoulder to lean on.