This leads me to share
one of my habits (learnt from others, of course) when I read anything, even
novels and poetry. This is to keep a dictionary by my side. I have one
English, two Tamizh and one Sanskrit dictionary by my side when I am
reading. With modern technology, you do not even need a print edition. There
are several online dictionaries - in all languages. It is by using the
dictionary I learnt what an adobe is (mud house), a tepee is
(a movable tent with a triangular shape) and wigwam is (a
lodge), while reading Hillerman’s novels. I also learnt several Tamizh and
Sanskrit words with their several meanings.
Another great recent
experience was reading Thirukkural in Tamizh and looking up the meaning of the
words Thiruvalluvar used. It is obvious that Tamizh in those days was different
from the Tamizh we use today. The meaning of words has changed in some. Some
words had several meanings. Some of the words are not used anymore. For
example, the word for a tooth in those days was எயிறு. But now we use this word for the gum. The
word கொடிறு meant what we call கன்னம் (cheek) today.
In addition, whenever
Ramaa and me went to any country, we asked the locals about the most celebrated
author(s) of that country. We also asked them for suggestions. That is how we
found the writings of Jorge Amado (The War of the Saints and many more) and
Paulo Coelho (The Alchemist, Zahir and many more) in Brazil and of Ifgan Orga
in Turkey. Fortunately, most of the classic books from any language have been
translated into English. However, it is not the same as reading the original.
But the next best.
When we were in
Istanbul, we walked into one of the University Book stores. One young man
working there, probably student, was eager to try his English language skills
with us. We asked our usual questions and that is how we found this author and
his wonderful book on Portrait of a Turkish Family . This is a real-life story
based on life in Turkey soon after the fall of the Turkish empire.
This leads me to point
out that one way to learn about history, culture, philosophy and religion of
any country is to read fiction based on history by authors who do good
research. We from Tamil Nadu know how much we learnt about the Pallava and
Chola kingdoms by reading Sivakamiyin Sabatham. There are several other
examples. “The Source” by James Michener is a remarkable documentation of the
history of the Jewish people. I read it just before I went to Israel and was
able to relate to everything I saw and heard. (It is a very long book, though).
The other book is a classic fiction, Sophie’s World, in which you
can learn about various schools of western philosophies. This was written by
Jostein Gaarder, a schoolteacher for use in his class, became a classic and got
translated into several languages.
When you read a lot,
certain things happen spontaneously. You learn to read faster and faster. That
is because you learn to scan the lines instead of reading every word.
Actually, I began to scan without even knowing, until I learnt that
this is the method taught in courses on speed-reading.
There is no inherent
benefit to speed reading. Obviously, you cannot do that if you are reading
course materials. When you are reading for pleasure, enjoying the language and
style of the author, you want to read slowly and savor. Speed reading is meant
for executives who have to read lengthy reports. We do not want to hurry and
skip. The point is that when you read a lot, you tend to read faster because of
practice. You do not miss the main points. In fact, I have found that after
this many years, my eye seems to catch critical words and phrases in any page.
I have learnt without knowing how to scan a passage and a page.
This leads to another
point or two. As years advance, you are reading faster and faster and that means
you read more books and journals. You also get time to go back and read some
books you want to dive into. When you do that second time (or third time as I
have done with some books like Sivakamiyin Sabatham and Death of Ivan Ilyich),
you catch a few ideas, phrases and references you missed during the first
read.
While reading new
authors, I am also looking for newer angles to old ideas and for newer ideas,
as it happened recently to me while reading The Four Quartets by T S Eliot for
the second time. I also try to relate the style and content of the current
author (T S Eliot) I am reading to those by other scholars and poets I have
read in the past. During my second reading I found that what Eliot says about time and the present
moment to the ideas Buddha presented two thousand years back. This ability to
correlate and compare writings by several authors becomes easy when you read
some of the classics a second time. This is another advantage of consistent
reading habits. This kind of correlation between what you are currently reading
and correlating with ideas you have read in other books also improves your memory.
You become a life-long
reader and therefore a life-long learner.
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