Devika Todi's Blog - Posts Tagged "need"
What need governs your Reading Habits?
There are two needs that constantly tug at me-
The need to escape my reality.
The need to be understood so deeply, that I feel heard and seen like never before.
It is the oscillation between these two that often governs my creative writing, as well the choices I make while consuming content. The older I grow, the more I understand how my choices have reflected on this trend.
I started reading to escape my reality. A quiet girl who never had enough words to speak, but always had enough eyes to observe all the lives around. I took to reading and could not get enough. I preferred reading books based on fantasy, or in countries far from mine. A seed of imagination was born, as I had specific ideas about what a geography looked like, what accents sounded like, the way a character would probably wear their hair.
This even reflected in the genres I read, and the authors I picked. The range included Khaled Hosseini, Nicholas Sparks, Nora Roberts, Cecelia Ahern, Amish, Meg Cabot.
But as I grew older, the need to be understood increased. My reading shifted to Indian authors, books based in my hometown- Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, Jhumpa Lahiri, Neel Mukherjee, Amitav Ghosh.
While I was never comfortable reading in Hindi, I also read a few books on mythology- a direct link to the conversations around me. After a while, even though I did not know the meaning of the prayers, I knew all the characters and the stories in them.
Pretty soon, with a loss of access to a physical library, I resorted to the digital world for recommendations.
It has been challenging, but I guess I am getting back to the habit of reading. This time, it is with mixed needs.
What need governs your reading habits?
~insight07 / Devika
The need to escape my reality.
The need to be understood so deeply, that I feel heard and seen like never before.
It is the oscillation between these two that often governs my creative writing, as well the choices I make while consuming content. The older I grow, the more I understand how my choices have reflected on this trend.
I started reading to escape my reality. A quiet girl who never had enough words to speak, but always had enough eyes to observe all the lives around. I took to reading and could not get enough. I preferred reading books based on fantasy, or in countries far from mine. A seed of imagination was born, as I had specific ideas about what a geography looked like, what accents sounded like, the way a character would probably wear their hair.
This even reflected in the genres I read, and the authors I picked. The range included Khaled Hosseini, Nicholas Sparks, Nora Roberts, Cecelia Ahern, Amish, Meg Cabot.
But as I grew older, the need to be understood increased. My reading shifted to Indian authors, books based in my hometown- Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, Jhumpa Lahiri, Neel Mukherjee, Amitav Ghosh.
While I was never comfortable reading in Hindi, I also read a few books on mythology- a direct link to the conversations around me. After a while, even though I did not know the meaning of the prayers, I knew all the characters and the stories in them.
Pretty soon, with a loss of access to a physical library, I resorted to the digital world for recommendations.
It has been challenging, but I guess I am getting back to the habit of reading. This time, it is with mixed needs.
What need governs your reading habits?
~insight07 / Devika
