The Spur of Imagination

My friend forwarded me an article which revealed that Bill gates, Mark Zuckerberg and many other visionaries and CEOs of tech companies at Silicon Valley restrict their children to the usage of Computers and Facebook etc. Even the Late Steve Jobs, the man behind the iPad and iPhone had similar aversion to technology in his house, and he strictly limited his children's use of technology at home. The article stated, ‘Bill Gates spends hours in his office reading books while everyone else is refreshing their homepage’. Wow! Apparently, I can sure claim that the habit of reading had given me more benefits than I ever imagined. It was an unconscious dependence that caught up with me since childhood. I never speculated that this habit could one day be my savior.

Since 1963 when I was 6 years old, until 1970 when I reached 14 years, for eight years the Boarding School was my Home. Academically I was always an average student, but definitely not dull. I was among the top ten in the class in English language; but it was not noticed, because ridiculously I scored only an average of 40 in the rest of the subjects. The teaching was exceptionally very good for English alone and it had a long-lasting effect. The subject was split into 6 parts; it was Prose, Poetry, Grammar, Comprehension, Reading, and Dictation. As far as I remember, Prose and Poetry constituted about 60 marks together and the rest parts carried about 10 marks each. Reading was the highlight. The pauses, pitch and low in voice while reading loud was as if we were being prepared for the stage. Next came grammar. Both at School and Hostel, there was a strict rule that even during the free time we should converse only in English, and whoever was caught speaking in their mother tongue were given imposition as a punishment to write ten times a full chapter from our Grammar Text, the Wren & Martin.

Reading triggered in me with Comic Books. In those days Comic books were imported and they were very expensive from Rs 1.25 to Rs 2.50 per book. Each of the hostel mates used to bring at least 2 or 3 comic books when he returned from Holidays. The variety of Comics ranged from Sad Sack, Sarge, Phantom, Tarzan, Superman, Richie Rich, Archie, the Fairy Tale Classics, and many more which I cannot account now. Each section of Class used to have its own library of Comic Books. These apart the School Library had a large collection of Tennyson, Enid Blyton’s Famous Five’s Adventures, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes, and many more must-read books. The Comics and the adventure story books became the best companions to me in those early years.

When I reached 16, my debut to reading Novels was Perry Mason, James Hadley Chase, etc. Then came the era of Asterix from the creative genius of Uderzo and Goscinny, and the wonderful adventures of Tintin by Herge; which were premium Comics and I read them all almost ten to twenty times. During College days, I used to read almost a hundred pages per day of novels. All academics were brushed just before exams and once again I tactfully maintained only 40% on an average and not more. Authors like Irving Wallace, Robert Ludlum, Leon Uris, Jefferey Archer, Fredrick Forsyth, Sydney Sheldon, William Peter Blatty, Selzer, James Clavell, non-fiction from Eric Von Daniken, and many more famous writers were my favorites. I read a minimum of 3000 pages per month, and that’s no exaggeration. Then came the iconic Godfather by Mario Puzo, a phenomenal crime drama that captivated many readers throughout the world, whereafter the book stands were flooded with novels of Mafia crime. Then came the most engrossing and spellbinding books of paranormal stories from Stephen King; the ones I would never give a break. Ironically, I was burning the midnight oil with no goal of a career in mind; reading almost every book that I could hold my hands on. Academics were never of interest, hence I never aimed higher studies and stopped with a bachelor’s degree in Commerce.

Once my career as an entrepreneur started, the habit of reading waned and then vanished. Between my 30’s and 40’s, I practically did not read any book at all. At the end of the century, I was possessed with the Video Cassette Recorder. Until the year 2000, I used to remember almost twenty to thirty phone numbers, the addresses, and many more. I used to calculate numbers for adding, subtracting, multiplication or division on paper by the old method of ‘borrow’ and ‘carry forward’. Within a decade Mobile phones, Desktops, email, Google, and many more changed my daily lifestyle. The Fax machines, Land Line phones, VCRs’, Typewriters, etc., became antiques. I ignored my habit of reading at night and resorted to watching TV which not only blunt my mind but also intensified the stress. The sluggishness was evident after an hour and half. Resultantly in my forties, my mind had less scope to nourish. It’s a kind of retirement or disabling of the memory zone.

After a long run of successful business career, I was entrapped in litigation and I had to spent huge money on Lawyers, and it was frustrating for I never got what I expected. Then one day I impulsively bought the bear Act version of the Securitization Act, to exactly know what it was about. My first Law Book was read in one night. I read it very casual and it was as interesting as a Comic Book or a Novel. Not at all bored. Thereafter, I started buying voluminous books of various Statutes with commentaries of retired Judges and famous Legal Experts. And then I took the most profound decision of my life. At my age of 54 I joined a Law College. Even before I accomplished my Law Degree by 57, I was already a Legal Consultant researching and rendering strategies collectively worth not less than Rs 500 Crores in value.

I catapulted to a quantum leap in the profession. Reading is the investment of any Advocate and as it fortunately happened to be my passion, and I never had to stress in my profession. Two things recued me in life; one was the habit of reading with vivid imagination and not just passive, and the second was the very same habit that actually helped to generate billions of brain cells called neurons. I was informed that the phenomenon is called ‘neuro genesis’. The grey matter at the center of the Brain is called ‘hippo campus’ which is responsible for learning and memory. The article my friend had forwarded states that the researchers in behavioral sciences at Stanford University highlighted worrisome differences in children and young adults when reading on print, versus digital mediums. I am glad that my reading books had given me many benefits. My childhood passion became an ability and the ability turned to a skill, and the skill led me to a successful profession.