We all pick up some hobbies to spend our leisure time. This free time should not be wasted on things that just help us in passing the time and nothing else. One should invest one’s free time in the activities that enhance one’s knowledge and change their perception of looking at the world around them.

The qualities of reading as one such hobby is undeniable. While reading, one looks around the world according to the author’s perspective, as books contain life stories, information of various things, point of views, and a lot more, by the author.

After we read different things, including facts and others’ experiences, it becomes easy to look at things in our lives from a different perspective and handle them accordingly. All successful people are readers, gaining insights into the minds of others and using that knowledge to their benefit.

Reading makes one multidimensional. It enhances one’s ability of focus and concentration, which are also the secrets of success. It was told in a documentary that Warren Buffet and Bill Gates, two of the richest persons in the world, were asked to describe their success in a single word. Both had written the word ‘Focus’.

“A room without books is like a body without a soul.” — Cicero “A book is a gift you can open again and again.” — Garrison Keillor “Reading a good book is like taking a journey.” — Emma Gulliford “Reading is a conversation. All books talk. But a good book listens as well.” — Mark Haddon

In a research conducted in 2013, the researchers used functional MRI to scan the brain in order to know how the human brain is affected by reading a novel. They came to know that as different incidents occurred in the novel, the more areas of the brain lit up with activity. This scan also showed that after several days of reading, the connectivity of the mind increased, especially in the ‘somatosensory cortex’, the part of the brain that is responsible for physical sensations, like movement and pain. This research shows that reading not only makes the reader mentally sharp, but physically strong as well.

Reading improves one’s interaction with others. How? Well because there are many ways an author targets his readers, such as by his writing style, choice of words and expressions. Therefore, readers get to know a lot of ways to communicate.

Apart from that, reading a book also drives away the sense of loneliness a person may feel. As in almost all the fields of life, one needs someone who could guide them. A book serves as a coach to one’s imaginations, guiding it to think big, opening the doors of a new world of imagination for the reader. One is not a good reader if one does not get lost in the world of the book one is reading.

Reading makes one’s power of imagination stronger and more creative. Imagination is the first step in the way to turn dreams into reality. You only get to know things if you seek knowledge. Without knowledge, you can’t even imagine things. You can get out of a boring and aimless life, and get into an interesting life, full of goals, only through reading. A reader finds new things every time he reads the same book.

Reading can help enhance the knowledge of children from an early age, helping them to pronounce words appropriately and improve their vocabulary. But this is not to say that reading doesn’t help adults, in fact, it is never too late to start reading and there is also no age limit. The benefits are for everyone, of all ages.

Books are not composed in days or a couple of weeks. A book can be the gist of the author’s whole life’s experiences, hard work, understanding, thoughts and even pain. However, to a reader, it only takes a few hours or days to read the whole book and gain all the information from it. So respect the author and the book by reading and enjoying it.

Published in Dawn, Young World, February 18th, 2023