It’s all chaos out there when life keeps throwing all kinds of stuff at me. It’s a relentless continuous process, like a constant bombardment of events, emotions, incidents. One after the other. If not personal, it’s something happening around me. Even though it has no bearing on my life, it still affects me. Joyous laughter of kids, hardships of people I see around, a couple holding hands while walking or a mob demonstrating against the establishment for their demands… It all just keeps hitting my brain with signals of all sorts. Some of this angers me, others makes me happy. Something even makes me envious and something makes me content. It’s like a giant roller coaster ride with high peaks, steep slides and sudden turns. Yet there is one thing which brings me solace when it’s chaos all around.

No doubt it’s magical

When I open the book and turn those pages, it kind of casts a spell around me. It keeps all those noises out as I take a plunge into the world created by the author. I don’t mean it’s always a fantastic realm which casts this spell. It’s equally effective even if the book is set in the real world, referencing the places I visited or the events we all knew about. The journey of these characters fascinates me. Their emotions touch my heart. I cry if one goes through a heartbreak and if they find happiness, my heart swells with them.

Sometimes, people taunt me about being a delusional fool who finds comfort by escaping reality. But, it’s not their fault, they don’t understand it at all. The stories which are told and the words written by masters, they bring me joy. It allows me to keep my problems aside for a moment. These words give me much needed time to unwind, relax and free some bandwidth to process my own experiences and emotions.

And I am a bit selfish too…

These authors are Dronacharya to my Eklavya. Every book I read brings me some insight about storytelling, nuances of writing and improves my vocabulary. These are the books which gave me the confidence to write my thoughts and put them out for you all to read. Your feedback is another thing which boosts my confidence manifold. I will definitely write about that some other time.

Today, I would like to thank all my favourite and not so favourite authors who gave me this solace when everything around me is going haywire. You all have pulled me out from very dark places in my life as well as shared my happiness. Your works have been a constant companion in my journey in this world and I hope and pray that this companion will never leave my side even if others have strayed off to walk their own path.

This blog post is part of ‘Blogaberry Dazzle’ hosted by Cindy D’Silva and Noor Anand Chawla in collaboration with Dr. Preeti Chauhan.

To read more of my writing, feel free to browse other pages of Adi’s Journal