What is it about books that has me all enthralled? The feel of barks of trees in his soul? Or the sweet smells (mostly) of the forests in her bosom? The dainty walks of the alphabets all written on her skin? The warmth of his hard ‘spine’ against my fingers?
I have been given to understand (by myself), that I have, a term I have coined, called “Stationery Obsessive Compulsive All In-Order” (SOCAiO). Ah-huh. That means, I’ve had this unique condition for like ALWAYS and have just recently been proudly showing it off. It is NOT a DISorder, it is an IN-Order. And it is FUNtastic!!
Each & everytime, I walk or even glance at a bookstore or anything slightly resembling one, my heart does a topsy-turvy. My heart beats like a bell gong. My tummy moves like a juicer-grinder (now only if it kept all that chubbiness off it, with all that stimulation.. Oh well..). And all these physical changes make me feel so good. So refreshed, wonderful, excited. Like a little girl with a frilly polka dress in curls tied up in pigtails & pink ribbons, with a lollipop in her mouth & candy floss in hand, walking down a candy store for some more. Add to this a reverie, like the one we experience when we in a temple, with the feel of God all around us. It’s like the feeling of trance when I hear M. S. Subbulakshmi (I LOVE HER) or Indian classical (I LOVE IT) or the gush of a rainfall. This and much more do I feel in the magical world of books and her accompaniments.
Well, I knew I was kinda crazy about all this, when ‘CROSSWORDS’ came to town, back in Mumbai & OMG, was I mesmerized. Picture this… there is this HUMONGOUS book store, that you could just walk into, take your own bloody time to browse through while sitting on poofy chairs or fun carpets that were set up frivolously and maybe read a line or two & then, even then, if you still ain’t satisfied, you could just carry whatever books you could to the in-house CCD (Cafe Coffee Day) & browse (again) with a cuppa in hand?? Really! So, okay, I SURELY would & DID. I carried atleast 10 books & had a big, over the top, westernized sounding coffee coz it sounded so exotic, reading through lines here & there & took my time. Me-time, personified. My Fun Zone.
Then life & it’s changes got in the way & ‘Crosswords’ kind of slipped into the horizon. But my saga with books ruled me & lived through me. And then, 4 years ago, whilst sunning away in Miami, “BARNES & NOBLE” happened. And voila, just like that, ‘Crosswords’ in its western avatar, transfigured in front of me. I HAD to be IN there & surely I was. That’s one PIT stop, I don’t miss. EVAAHHH.. So while browsing through (again), chanced upon this mag called “FLOW” & OMG, I had a revelation. Their edition on “Book for Paper Lovers” (bottom left hand side in pic below) miraculously appeared in my hands & that is the very first time, I realised I had SOCAiO and that I was NOT the only one to have this naive, gullible obsession with paper in all its form. It was indeed surreal, just like the day, I found out, that my parents too make poopee. EVERYDAY. I was saved coz no, it wasn’t just me who had to freshly discard this mess from my body on a daily basis. Momee & dadee did it too. Was I relieved that day. Hey, do not judge me. I used to feel so yuck coz I thought only dirty people (like me) did it & I was a sinner, okay??
On a cleaner paper… ooppss note, I feel so much cooler now knowing that there are indeed people like me in this “such a small world” kinda story. Holding a book in my hands & turning the pages with my fingers, makes me feel so important, so gorgeous, so mysterious. Adding a pen to that mix, heightens the effect.
And then, the electronic world KINDLEd into my life… Next on.. read the saga of this medium in my life…
Vagabond Rootz 