Reading - My Favorite Hobby

I love READING. Be it a story or a poem or an article. I love to read all the time. It gives me lot of happiness. When I retire, I want to have a huge library at home and read all the time. If I think back, I remember started reading tamil magazines/books when I was 6 or 7 years old (without aloud reading). I still remember the day when one of our family friend asked my mom what am I doing with the magazine, she answered to him that I am reading the magazine and he did not believe it. He made me read it aloud to confirm :). I think it came from my Mom side genes. My grandmom (mom's mom) read a lot and she still does. Damu Mama (my mom's 2nd brother) has and reads lots of books. His huge iron box (trunk potti) with 100's of books is in my memory still.

My mom reads all the time and I think she is the great influence on me. We both discuss on what we read and she even suggests me books. Last time when she visited us, she brought "Kallikaatu Idhigasam" and "Karuvaachi Kaaviyam". I read it during my maternity leave in 2011 and it was awesome. I liked Kallikaatu idhigasam much better than the Karuvaachi Kaaviyam. When I read the stories, I feel like I live with them in that place. It is a very nice feeling.

May be its because that my mom reads more, she knows more stuff and she could talk about lot of things. She got married when she was 17 and did not get a chance to attend college & being a homemaker, she really knows lot of things than my Dad :). Forgot to mention about another book which she brought "Saagavaram" by Iraianbu IAS. It was very beautiful too.

One of my favorite author is "Sujatha". His real name is Rangarajan and he writes on his wife's name. He passed away in 2008. He wrote lot of short stories, science fiction, articles etc. His "Srirangathu Devadhaigal" is my all-time favorite. Everytime I read it, I feel like I am in Srirangam with the characters on the stories. He also worked with Shankar, Kamalhasan in some movies. He is the one who started working on "Endhiran" movie dialogues and passed away before finishing it up. Madhan Karky (Poet Vairamuthu's older son) continued his work and finished it up. Endhiran has some influence from Sujatha's science fiction books - "En Iniya Iyandhira" & "Meendum Geno". He wrote lot of science terms in simple language for common people to understand. His "Katradhum Petradhum" article that came in Anandha Vikatan was very very nice. He talks about almost everything in this world. It was very creative and influential. I always feel that his writings are very realistic and convincing. He is really GREAT!!! If you ever get a chance and can read Tamil, please read his "Srirangathu Devadhaigal", it is really fun and beautiful.

Whenever I go to India, I try to buy books. This time I brought Neeya Naana Gopinath's "Indha puthagathai vaangadheenga" & "Ner Ner Thema" and the 5 volumes of "Ponniyin Selvan" by Kalki. I have not started Ponniyin Selvan yet. Hope I get sometime to read them without any disturbance. I really want to get involved and read them, but not sure about the possibility with 4 year old & 1 year old :).

Anyways, Happy Reading & Stay Tuned for More Thoughts!