Books are such a blessing. They teach us so much in and about life. I feel that while academic textbooks have their own importance, we must also devote time to non-curriculum books. These may be fiction, biographies, or self-help books. These are the kinds of books that can be our best friends. I say best friends because they can not just keep us company, but also guide us through the trials and tribulations of life.
Personally, I was fortunate to be born in family that assigned more importance to old books than new clothes. If we respect books, I was told, then books also respect us and never let their knowledge abandon us.
Growing up, I was really fond of stories and poems. I also enjoyed listening to poetry, both at home and school. By the time I was in grade ten, I had also started writing. I would write articles and short poems every now and then. Some of those write-ups were even published in the school magazine. My parents felt so happy to see my works getting published.
I also actively participated in extracurricular activities. One day of the year was reserved to hand out prizes to students who did well in these activities. Now, the reason I mentioned this is because those prizes were rather fascinating – books. Yes, we would get stories and biographies of great people. As a result, I received several books in recognition of my efforts, and yes, I read all of them. I would spend hours in the school library just to make sure I devoured every single word in them!
One of our teachers lived quite close to our house. She had seen me reading books in the library on more than one occasion. One day, she announced that she was moving elsewhere. She had so many books at her place that she didn’t quite know what to do with them. Her family was actually wondering if they should sell those books for scrap. However, impressed by my appetite for reading, the teacher asked me to collect those books from her place. I was so happy. I couldn’t have asked for more, and I stopped by her house the same day. It felt so nice to get those books. I even built a new bookshelf above my study table so I could read those books in my leisure time. Well, sometimes I read them on the busy days as well. They are, after all, my best friends.
A NOTE TO OUR READERS
If you too are an Indian reader with a story to tell, we are all ears. Getting your story published on Ameya is pretty straightforward, actually. Just click on the button below, fill in the applicable fields and start typing. Once you are done, hit ‘submit’. If you don’t quite fancy the idea of filling random contact forms on the Internet, relax – we’ve got all bases covered! You can simply email your story to us at support@booksameya.in. Once we’ve received your story, our team will get in touch with you and apprise you of its publishing status. Yes, it’s that simple!