Devika Todi's Blog - Posts Tagged "reading"
Phases in the Habit of Reading Books
I started reading when I was 7 years old. It was something I did under the guidance of my elder sister, who actually got the habit first in my family.
Ever since, I never really stopped. I have had my phases- Enid Blyton phase, Nicholas Sparks phase, Nora Roberts phase, Sidney Sheldon phase, Jhumpa Lahiri phase, Khaled Hosseini phase, and many more.
In the last few years, my choice of books has been erratic. I have picked many short stories, longer novels I read during the initial few months of the pandemic, some award winning works as well.
What phase are you stuck in right now?
~insight07/ Devika
Ever since, I never really stopped. I have had my phases- Enid Blyton phase, Nicholas Sparks phase, Nora Roberts phase, Sidney Sheldon phase, Jhumpa Lahiri phase, Khaled Hosseini phase, and many more.
In the last few years, my choice of books has been erratic. I have picked many short stories, longer novels I read during the initial few months of the pandemic, some award winning works as well.
What phase are you stuck in right now?
~insight07/ Devika
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
