I found myself back in campus yet again last month. I found the students very busy doing exams. I recalled the days I was there and fast forwarded to my present life. There is a definite difference. At the time, I loathed reading. The mere thought of reading for a CAT was totally unwelcome. Samuel Johnson did write: A man ought to read just as inclination leads him; for what he reads as a task will do him little good. Have our lecturers ever read that? They should have let us read as we wished. Wishful thinking; and I know I should go tell that to the birds. I remember how I would feel very sleepy when I had an assignment to hand in the next day or a CAT to sit for. Surprisingly, reading a magazine, newspaper or novel would be almost ecstatic. Not that I couldnt understand what I was reading, but the classic spirit willing, body weak thing always prevailed. Lately, I have discovered why this was so. An Austrian writer called Karl Kraus notes that It is not easy to get a truly and constantly productive spirit to read. He is to a reader as a locomotive is to a tourist. Also, one does not ask a tree how it likes the scenery. This however could not explain why some people loved the library than their hostel rooms. Those who had acquired the academic angle and a slanted shoulder due to incessantly carrying books all the time. Being a writer, I wondered whether or not reading becomes uninteresting if it is to purely gauge understanding. A Russian writer wrote that A good reader has imagination, memory, a dictionary, and some artistic sense. Does this therefore mean that reading is the preserve of a few scribes who have the creative edge to revel in books? The answer is a resounding NO. Alberto Manguel, in his book A History of Reading says that ReadingI discoveredcomes before writing. A society can existmany do existwithout writing, but no society can exist without reading. When does reading become interesting then? By the time I graduated, I couldnt wait for the final paper. After this, I would dump my books and once out there, apply knowledge and skills gained to make it in life. How wrong I was. My first job was quite related to what I had studied in campus. However, I had to constantly read and update my knowledge base since I was working in a specialized technical field. What I found interesting was the fact that I now enjoyed reading. I would read more than I did in campus and not even notice it. When I eventually settled for design and creative writing, I discovered why birds fly. Richard Steele in The Tatler wrote that Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body. The truth in his words cannot be gainsaid. Nowadays, I find myself always staring at a book, magazine, newspaper or a computer screen and wallowing in the net, ebooks and ezines. I realized that I am now reading for life. And enjoying it all the more. Many of the novels we grew up reading had a page at the back that was always urging Americans to read. It would give a statistical figure of the American literacy rate and insist that the only way out was having more people reading. Currently, the US literacy rate is 99.5 %. Kenyas is 86 %. We need to cultivate a reading culture in our lives and our society. In college, I remember friends asking how life is out there. Many wondering whether there are jobs or not. In this forum, I wont address that for I have done so some place else. One even remarked that he had thrown away all his damn notebooks. If you are wondering whether you will be reading after campus, the answer is YES. And so much more, only that you will be enjoying it. You will be reading for life and for good. You aint read nothing yet. I read a joke the other day. Let me share it. In Hazelwood Missouri, Flavio Mendoza had a problem. A Korea-bound jet took off from San Francisco without his girlfriend because she was running late. This was very serious. He called several times urging the airline to hold the flight for her. But of course they wouldnt. He had to come up with something very clever to get that plane back, just for her. So he thought and he thought and he had this brilliant idea! If he phones in a bomb threat, they will have to turn the plane around and bring it back to San Francisco! And guess what. It worked! And it only cost him a mere ten years of his life. In the slammer. For all who are on vacation, enjoy everything that you read. At least you aint reading for exams now! |
