reading is one of my joys

Deepa: If there is anyone who asks me whose life you want to model after, I will say I want to live like Ms Natasha.

I: Why? Hmm.. ok.

Deepa: Wa, is your life really about language and nothing else?

I: Erm, maybe, I like to read.

Deepa: Don’t you find reading boring? I mean, if you have the time, will you rather read or watch TV?

I: Read.

Deepa: Will you rather go shopping than read?

I: Read.

Deepa: Don’t you think you are a bookworm? Don’t you do other things?

I: I like sports as well.

Deepa: I think it’s about time management; maybe I am too young to know how to manage time.

I: Well, it is always about learning. When I was younger, I don’t really know how to manage time that well. I had more energy I guess, I can remember when I was about 17 or 18, during my JC days, I can go out after school ends at 5plus (school starts around 7plus that time), return home and study all the way till 4am if there is a test the next day. Now, I probably cannot do it as well. I think I didn’t sleep much when I was younger. (Not to say now..)

Deepa: I was really hopeful when I was taking my ‘O’ level English that time. I studied hard and gave my all. But after I failed once, I think I just start to give less time to it.

I: Your life is not determined by the grades on the paper. Whatever you are studying is for yourself and about yourself. I failed my ‘O’ level English too, but that does not deter me from continuing to love English. I had never had very good grades for English, but I know for sure, I love English and am good at it. I don't need the grades to tell me that. Today, I am able to teach you not because I ever got an A for English but because I love English and believe in myself to teach you well. Remember, it is for yourself, it is not about the grades.

This conversation with my student, Deepa, keeps stirring in my mind, so I decided that I should pen it down. What.who can go against something you love? To me, reading is one of the joys I own in my life. As much as literature out there in the world is voluminous, my life must be as voluminous as well. Bookworm? This is a name we used to call nerdy classmates. But today, I am good being known as “bookish”, someone who worms up in bed reading and reading. You will never have the same experience as someone else who reads the same book. The pleasures of reading is so personal, intimate and worth cherishing every second. Like a movie, it teleports me to a paradise that is very secure and enjoyable. Forget about the labels heaped on you from the strictures of society, be yourself and hang on to what you love and believe in today.