reading

reading is the activity which demands hours after hours.i remeber that some of best books which i read were books which i read in one sitting.ofcourse there are books which are so big that you cannot read them in a strech.i read 'perfume' by patrick suskind in one sitting.and kunder'a book of laughter and forgetting'in one whole day.in childhood i used join a liabrary in khar.i used to read 2 books a day.one for elders and one for children.these were books in marathi,my mothertongue.english was second language.it was difficult to read english books .so i used to read translations.one day i got a translation of 'adventures of huck finn'by mark twain.i was really hooked.all my friends in school loved that.ajay gadre,aniruddha phadake,milind kulkarni,abhay awachat these friends were good reader.in that age devoid of tv reading was the only enertainment....and of course playing cricket using shoe as a bat.
school has a huge liabrary,at least it gave impression on vastness in that age.i read dickens,hemingawey,hans anderson which was milind's favorite.i liked tom sawyer,sherlock holmes ,james bond,poe,many american writers which were translated in marathi through a scheme.(that is usa gave wheat to india and all that money was used for cultural activity)i used to read while classes were in progress.one day i was eading a book in tenth standard and teacher caught me.the book was translation of novel 'doctor'by sinclair lewis translated by malati bedekar.
ofcourse we were reading everything that was there to read in marathi.mrityunjay was big and famous book which i read when i was in fifth.it is 800 pages book.one book which i discovered was george gamov's 'one,two,three,...infinity'.i borrowed it from gadre.(he was always generous).i was enthralled.there was huge range of topics from dicovery of chess to probability.relativity to biology.i couldn't understand about relativity but i enjoyed other things.like how rays get curved when big mass like earth appear in between.in tenth standard i baught copy of it in 9 rupees(it cost ten minus one rupee discount).that was first book which i baught.but to save that much money i took ten days.after 2-3 years i baught copy in english.i baught that book severel times.
now i have 6000 booksi have complete britanica(1968,24 volumes).my school and friends in my class played major role in my reading.in last few years there were articles about my books collection in indian express,midday.com,mumbai mirror.i get phone call almost everyday from people who love books or are searching books.i dont have tv.but opening a new book or old magazine issue of 'the new yorker' or 'encounter' or 'punch' always excites me.

slowness

other day i spend a whole day without reading.watching video.since i dont have tv.or computer i spend my time reading that is when i am not working.(i am writing this from cybercafe) often people start their day reading newspaper.thi consume lot of prime time for reading i must say. i prefer to start a day with a book. i finished a book about newyorker editor'remembering mr.hawn of new yorker'.it is book by ved mehta,who was on the staff of new yorker for almost 30 years. editing is the hidden art.the book desribes relation between writers and edittor mr.shawn a man who was an institution himself.