Reading - A complete waste of time ??

Recently a friend of mine who is not into reading in any form observed - "You like reading books but don't you think it is a complete waste of time ? Especially since your books are not even related to work. In the time you are reading you do nothing productive !!!! "

Of course I bristled at this but she being a friend - I did not shoot off acerbic comments; even though uncharitable observations about her serial-watching-time did occur to me !!! :))) Ha ha ....

Nobody likes to be told they are wasting time !! :)

Still .... I decided to actually think about her observation ... :) I know anyone can go on and on about the benefits (and disadvantages) of reading so I am not getting into that .... :)

I am going to play devil's advocate [ any offense in unintended ! ]

If we are to think of reading books as a waste of time then anytime spent in not foraging for our basic needs is a waste of time.

So letz see -

  1. Time spent in listening to music is a waste of time - unless it is how you earn your bread-and-butter.
  2. It goes without saying that only people involved in movie making should watch movies. [ What about the associate industries of Advertising, Toys, T-shirts, Games ...... :) No idea ! ]
  3. Serials are a complete waste of time of-course - never mind the neighborhood boutiques ... that sell sarees and jewellery inspired by the serials !
  4. Reality shows ? Ha .. toss it out of the window .... :)
  5. You would like to learn the piano ? Why ? Read a trade magazine instead ! :))
  6. Watching cricket / football / tennis by any one other than the players is an absolute no-no ! Never mind if your spouse starts to resemble a grizzly bear on losing his/her relaxation time with a favorite sport. :)
And so on and on ..... :))

To stretch it to a crazy level .....

Your child should decide what he/she wants to be in childhood and based on that should learn / read only skills related to the same !! Ouch ....

How would the world fare in this kind of environment ? I shudder to think .... :))) So next time I am tempted think of any specific recreation as a waste of time I am going to remember that the lateral impact of our recreations are many and varied [ both on self and others :) ] and I should realize each person chooses his/her own brand of poison ! :)
 
As for my friend - When I showed her this blog post she groaned and said "Blogging is creation of more material to read and ...... wasn't that where all this argument began ?" ! ;)) "

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Vidya, I have a different kind of a problem....I think.

I know approx 3 billion people in the world would ridicule what I am saying...but hear me out.

I have a disability for reading *books*. Now, please understand me the way I mean it. I am not reading-disabled. I read a *lot*. Infact, I can even handle thin books and magazines. Initially I thought I was "unattracted" to certain subjects. But if you look at my unread (and sometimes purchased) book list, I have books of all kinds, some on topics I would give my arm and leg for.

This conclusion was not easy - I had to try different types of books, different lengths before I concluded so.

My latest experiment, I just bought an e-book and reading it (just to make sure format is helping me). I am about 15% of the 400 page book in 1 day (for which I think I deserve a Magsaysay award)

Can you help me, Dr. V?

Vidya said...

Hi Rao,
I don't know what to say ! :) Reading *books* is so natural to me ... but then I have a similar problem to yours ... I get bored with thin books and magazines ... !!! LOL !! :) Not that I don't read them .. but I prefer *books*.

Still I find that I read fiction books faster than serious books [obviously] !! And sometimes I just can't get the feel of a book - as in .. I may read it but am not absorbing it. Then I just keep it aside for another time. It happened with Vedanta Treatise , Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance etc and is still happening with "Lila" .. I feel I am not mentally ready for the tenets perhaps....

Plus I am moody .. at any point of time - I am reading 2-3 books .. all at different stages. I may have to re-read a little bit but I don't mind since it suits my mood. May be this kind of approach helps ?

Also for any person who enjoys books ... there are always stacks of unread books lying around .. I personally have not finished all the books in our book case ... so welcome to the perpetually-not-read-books syndrome ! :)

Anonymous said...

Vidya, I feel better now that it is ok to have unread books :-) (company in misery)

Btw, I am making good progress on the e-book....will keep you posted!

Anonymous said...

Hey Vidya, completed the 350-page book. No mean feat in my standards. Btw, visit kuppurao.com for a book review and pleaseee comment.

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