When I was in class 6, we had a weekly library period where we could pick any book to read. Simple, right? Well, not for me. The shelves were stacked with fiction books filled with words that looked like hieroglyphics to my young brain. I struggled to make sense of them, and honestly, I felt like a lost tourist in a foreign land.
Desperate for a solution, I approached my librarian and poured out my book-related woes. She listened, nodded wisely, and handed me a few books she thought I would understand. And guess what? I actually did! That was the turning point in my reading journey, though at the time, I had no idea it would become a lifelong love affair.
I don’t even remember her name now (sorry, ma’am!), but she always picked books for me, and I devoured them. That’s how reading became my hobby! From my grade 6 struggles to now, I’ve evolved into a much more mature reader. Just like my diary has been my best friend, books have been my ride-or-die companions, and I never miss a chance to read!
Now, let’s talk about my reading style back then. Oh, it was painfully slow. I would read and re-read lines until they made sense. I probably spent more time analyzing a single paragraph than students spend preparing for a math test. But my librarian saw my determination and granted me VIP access to books that weren’t even allowed to be taken home. Maybe she saw the spark in me because whenever I had free time, I was nose-deep in a book. And perhaps that’s when my passion for reading—and eventually writing—was born!
Here’s a fun fact: I was every librarian’s favorite student, no matter where I studied! Middle school? Check. Higher secondary? Check. College? Check. Local Library? Check. If there was a librarian’s hall of fame, I’d have been in it.
Let me tell you, Scholastic book fairs were a big deal at my middle school. They were held twice a year, but buying books from them was a distant dream. The books were pricey, and convincing my parents to buy one was like trying to negotiate world peace. According to them, I was a below-average student who needed to focus on textbooks, not fancy novels. And let’s be real, back then, spending Rs.100 or Rs.150 on a book was a luxury for a middle-class family.
By the time I was in my first year of college, my English was fluent, but I was still sharpening my skills. I had already stepped into writing and journalism as a part-time newspaper reporter, a student editor, and a college reporter. When my sister gifted me "Hidden Suspect," it was special—it was probably my first ever Scholastic purchase and proof that I was finally able to read and understand foreign authors.
But how did I actually read and understand the book? This is where it gets funny.
Back in my 11th and 12th grade, I carried a dictionary to every English class like it was my personal survival kit. Every time I encountered a word I didn’t understand, I would flip through the dictionary like a detective solving a case. I didn’t just memorize meanings—I made sure to use the words in sentences so they would stick. My English teacher, Latha Ravi Ma’am, was my biggest cheerleader. She encouraged me, helped me learn new words, and unknowingly fueled my obsession with vocabulary. I even wrote down word meanings inside books so I could refer back to them later.
Today, as I flipped through "Hidden Suspect," I found a treasure trove of words I had painstakingly highlighted back then. Words like convict, contradiction, divulge, perpetrators, cadaver, trauma, flinch, lousy, arsenic, forensic, and even donuts (because, let’s be honest, food-related words always deserve special attention). I effortlessly use those words now and thinking about it made me smile.
Am I ashamed that I didn’t know these words back then? Absolutely not! I’m incredibly proud of how far I’ve come. Now, I can write long-form content on any topic in just a few hours and even decode complex research papers.
And even today, I never miss a chance to look up a word in the dictionary. Because learning never stops, and every book, no matter how old, has something new to teach.
So, to anyone struggling with reading or learning something new—go slow, take your time, and don’t be afraid to ask for help. One day, you’ll look back and realize how much you’ve grown. And who knows? Maybe one day, you’ll be writing your own book instead of just reading them!
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