BOOKS – OUR BEST FRIENDS

By Mrunal Shethiya
My never falling friends are they.
With whom I converse day by day,
With them I take delight in weal,
And seek relief in woe.
This is how the great poet Robert Southey refers to books. The poet Robert
Southey has beautifully called books his never failing friends with whom he
converses every day. Books enlighten, give knowledge, entertain and inform us.
Whether we read books printed on paper or tale books, their importance cannot
be denied. They fill our minds and hearts with hope and joy. Unlike human friends
they never deceive or betray us. Books have inspired people through the ages.
The first book of the Aryan called the Rigveda has a lot for us to learn and
understand even after 3000 years. Books like the Ramayana and Mahabharata are
relevant in modern times and teach people the ways of life. Writers
like Gandhi have put forward to us their life on a platter to understand their goals
and teachings. Books are a storehouse of knowledge. Books often provide a
person with the ability to judge between right and wrong and the courage to
follow the righteous path. Books indeed provide a pleasurable company and
prove to be a trustworthy and lifelong companion. Books are our true friends.
They never desert or deceive us. They never betray us. They are our constant
companions who stand by us through thick and thin.
We do not know how time flies in the company of our favourite books. We can
pass hours and days in their company. They share our happiness and console us in
our sorrow. Like friends books entertain and inspire us. They give courage to us in
life’s struggles. They fill our heart with hope and cheer when we are in despair.
But there is a great difference between human friends and books. Since birds of
the same feather flock together, the intellectual and cultural level of our friends is
the same as ours. Their tastes, attitudes, temperament, thoughts and beliefs are
similar to those of ours. Therefore, their capacity to guide, encourage and inspire
us is limited. But when we read books, we are in the company of the best and the
noblest minds of all ages and therefore they can provide us great encouragement
and inspiration. So powerful is the influence of some of the books that they
sometimes change the entire course of the reader’s life. We know the influence
exerted by books of Ruskin and Tolstoy on Gandhi’s life. Great books free us from
cares and worries, tensions and conflicts and transport us to the world of joy.
Peace and harmony. They enrich our minds and broaden our outlook. They
sharpen our sensibilities. They mould our character and personality.

Everybody wants recreation after hard work. It is a biological necessity. Books

are a ‘great source of entertainment and recreation.’ They share the readers’ joys
and sorrows. A lover of books comes back home a very relaxed man after a visit
to the library. For him, the library is a temple of learning and a source of
pleasures. With its excellent academic, peaceful and educative atmosphere, a
library is a place of peace, quiet and serenity. J.B. Macaulay once said,” I would
rather be a poor man in a place garret with plenty of books than a king who did
not love reading.” Henry David Thoreau rightly remarked, “Books are the
treasured wealth of the world, the fit inheritance of generations and nations.

Reading books can introduce a new charm in life. A book is the precious
life blood of a master mind. Books bring us in contact with the greatest scholars
of the past and the present. As we get into the spirit of a book our entire attitude
is changed. Books share our joys and sorrows. When we are in a happy mood,
we share our pleasures in the company of books. In our sadder moments, books
act as our nurses or guardians and provide us with words of encouragement and
consolation. Books are, therefore, the best of friends. Our human friends may
desert us, but books do not desert us in any circumstances. They stand by us
through thick and thin.

Books entertain and delight their readers. Reading is a thrilling and an

enchanting experience. Books are the pearls of wisdom. The best of human
knowledge and thought is condensed in them. They act as beacon lights to
illumine our path on the dark and vast ocean of life. Just as they relieve the
boredom of journey in trains or buses, they also act as a stay and a support in the
long journey of our life in his world.

Bacon felt: “Reading make the full man.” In fact, reading is to the mind what
exercise is to the body. Realising the immense value of reading. Gibbon once
asserted,” My early and invincible love of reading I would not exchange with the
treasures of India.”

As far as possible, our endeavour should be read the well-known and famed
literature only. But falling into the habit of reading cheap and inferior books,
reading can become a curse as well. It will poison the stream of our thought and
make our mind a haunt of devilish ideas. Choice of books is of first and foremost
importance. It is again, more useful to read wisely than to read carelessly and
hurriedly.

The great masterpieces, famous novels, biographies, books of philosophy and

history have their own importance in human life. A proper and health pleasure
comes from understanding properly what we read. No doubt, it requires a hard
training and disciplining of our mind. But once this art is learnt, there is no end to
the satisfaction and deep contentment which we can derive from this art. Milton
has rightly said: “A good book is the precious life-blood of a master-spirit,
embalmed and treasured up on purpose for a life beyond.”

Good books are treasure houses of knowledge. When we open a book, we open a
treasure house of knowledge. And since knowledge is power, great books are a
means to acquire power.
Books are the windows to the world. A glimpse into books gives us a glimpse of
the world.
Just as it is necessary to choose our friends, it is also necessary to choose books.
There are thousands and lacs of books. Out of these we have to select those
books which would be useful to us. The choice will depend on our tastes and
Interests, temperament and needs. Like friends we should have books to help us
in our studies, to guide and inspire us in our life and to entertain us when we are
tired.
Good books are our friends, philosophers and guides.