By Sukanya Venkatraman
There can’t be a single
book to pick out and write a review for an edition whose theme is Education
because, well, there is something to learn from every book. People generally
say that experience is the best educator, and that life can’t be taught out of,
and learnt from books. I beg to differ. Books are, and will always be one of
the best educators you can find. Sure, they are a great source of information
and knowledge, but they don’t just provide facts, they, in a way, converse and
help you pull out the conclusions.
A book is in itself an
experience. It is a story, a story that isn’t ours, but one that we experience,
one that we laugh at, cry over and ponder upon. It teaches us two of the most
important things in life – to think and to feel. It’s a direct, unadulterated
entry into the author’s mind, and is an opportunity to look at things from his
point of view. It’s an experience you can be lost in, but not one you can ever
forget. The result of an experience is never how to think or how to feel, but
it’s a discovery of how you think and feel.
A book is every
relationship you will find in life. A mother, who makes you feel better when
you’re down even though she might not know the facts, a father who suggests
right and wrong and helps you develop it on your own, a sibling, who annoys you
to no end but one of those few people who really know you, a grandparent, who
recalls a story and gives you words of wisdom and a friend, who knows your
darkest secret but still doesn’t judge you.
Above everything else, a
book is a journey. A journey where everything is in black and white, but you
experiencing it, and being a part of it, adds colour to it. A journey, with a
million discoveries about the world and about oneself, whether it’s that the
grass is green, or that you find it to be greener on the other side. A journey,
where you can put your backpack down and gaze at the sky for hours together,
and one where you can fly into the sunset. A journey, where you might laugh one
minute and break down and cry the next. A journey that might be someone’s
story, from someone’s point of view, but one that is, and will always be
yours. It is the only journey that
doesn’t end with the turn of the last page but pops up every now and then
throughout your life.
There isn’t a single book
that you can read which doesn’t change a small perspective of yours, or helps
develop it, which you have learnt absolutely nothing from, and which hasn’t
left an impact. There are people, who say that life is not black and white, it
is shades of grey but a book teaches you the biggest lesson – life is in black
and white, the colours merge because you experience it.
