Reading - A Quality Avocation

      Reading is the best and most valuable hobby (or habit) one can have. It is better activity than watching TV or playing games on mobile phone. Groucho Marx, an American comedian and film star, once said, "I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go to the other room and read a book." Personally, I do the same. I read a lot. Be it a newspaper or a novel, a self-help book or an informative blog, I read something, little or more, every day. And I think everyone should read. If not daily, at least regularly. There are lots of benefits of reading. Even if you are reading just for killing the time, it is more beneficial than scrolling the social media feed. I remember a short story I've read somewhere few months ago. The story was like this —

        Once, an old man lived in a farm with his young grandson. Every day, the old man used to read book. His grandson observed him every day.

One day, the grandson reached to his grandfather and asked, "Grandpa! Do you remember all the things what you read?"

"No." the old man replied.

"Then what's the purpose of reading? What good does reading do?"

        The old man went inside and returned with a coal basket. A coal basket is just a metal basket with holes in the sides and bottom, so the coal dust can be shaken out before it is carried. He handed the coal basket to the boy and told him to bring a basket of water from the river nearby.

"But there are holes in it." the boy said, confused.

"Just try it." the old man replied.

        Boy went to the river and dipped the coal basket. He rushed to the home hoping to reach before the water leaked out. But didn't succeed. He went again and this time ran a little faster. But all the water leaked out before he reached to the home.

"It's impossible to carry water in basket with holes." the boy complained.

"May be you're not tying hard enough" the old man smiled.

        The boy went again to the river and dipped the bucket. This time, he ran as fast as possible. But when he reached his grandfather, the bucket was again empty.

"See grandpa, it's useless." he showed empty bucket to the old man.

"So you think it's useless? See the basket." Old man replied.

        The boy looked at the basket and realized the coal basket was different. previously it was a dirty coal basket. The coal particles were all over the bucket. But now it was clean. From inside as well as outside. He looked at his grandfather.

"Son, that's what happen when you read regularly. You might not remember everything. But, when you read, over the time you change. Inside and out. That's the benefit of reading."

        This short story itself explains the key benefit of reading. And there are many more. Getting information on a subject, having entertainment or reducing stress, reading has way more advantages than you think. It's not possible to cover all the benefits in single article. So, here are 5 most principal benefits of reading.

1. Improves Vocabulary (And Grammatical Skill)

        When you read, you get exposure to new words. You learn new phrases and idioms. You get in touch with the sentences which are grammatically accurate. These all improve your vocabulary and command over the language. You can communicate more fluently with less grammatical blunder. And I am not talking about only English. You read in any of your favourite language, and it will do the same effect. 

2. Improves Imagination

        When you read, you create an image in your mind of what you are reading. You imagine the characters when you read a novel. You imagine two or more persons talking when you read a conversations. You imagine places. You imagine the accent. You imagine the emotions. And there are lot more things. These all improve your imagination power. You become more creative and innovative. You develop more ideas for both your personal and professional life.

3. Improves knowledge

        Books and blogs are source of information. Whenever you read a topic, it creates one or more information hub in your brain. When you read more, different information hubs get created. Now imagine, all the hubs are connected to each other. What will you have? You will have a network of information. Or in simple word, more knowledge. And when you read books on different subject, more data get stored in your brain. And you become more knowledgeable.

4. Improves memory

       What do you do to become fit? You exercise, right? Likewise, reading is exercise of brain. When you read a book, it sometimes take days to finish. So you have to remember what you have read earlier. You have to remember characters, scenarios, dialogues etc. These all will sharpen your memory. In addition to that, reading will also improve your focus and concentration.

5. Improves life

       As I stated earlier, reading is the most valuable hobby. Each book teaches us something new. It makes you smarter. It makes you positive. You started to accept other's views and opinions. Your thinking capacity increases. These all, in turn, sometimes change the path of your life and lead you to ultimate success.

       In addition to these, there are many more advantages of reading. Like, improvement in critical thinking, confidence building, improvement in writing skill etc. And the list is endless. Start reading and you will feel the change in yourself.

-- Purvit Soni

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