Three Books That Teach Beyond Words (Don’t Miss the Last One)

                       

From an early age, we are handed over books in the name of the curriculum. As we flip through thousands of pages which honestly at one point pose as nothing more than a crisscross jumble of words arranged in an array to supposedly mean something greater than the size of their font, there stands one such sentence or phrase or a plot altogether that impacts our life more than we could have ever imagined. 

In 18 years of my life, I have read books around several genres, of authors and their franchises and yet when I have to name a few, I couldn't fathom the uncertainty that takes over me as I shortlist three out of a ton. 

But here we are and the following are some of the many books that have touched my life and made me the person I am today. 

The Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling

I don't think any diction is descriptive enough to encapsulate the wonders that the Harry Potter series promised and outdid. These books are the gateway to a world that very much like our own is above all mundanity. 

As a child, I remember reading hungrily through the pages of a library hardcover to absorb as much turn of events as I could in a mere 30-minute period.  Many of us must have begun reading this as an escape, which it most definitely is, but the situations that blanket the witchcraft and wizardry are analogous to the situations we face in real-time and thus slowly we can't help but learn a thing or two from them.

The importance of friendship stands above everything else for me. The power of friendship extinguishes even the deadliest fires. The golden trio of Harry, Hermione, and Ron- their antics but most importantly their bond is what the readers look up to. 

Apart from that, quotes such as "It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities ' and "It matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be' ' says volumes about life as we know it. 

Paper Towns by John Green

It might seem a bit obscure to see the name of a young adult book such as this on a list that is labeled 'life lessons' yet for me this very book by the author of ‘the fault in our stars’ has proven to be louder than the dim crowd it attracted.

I remember reading this book around that time in school when being in a relationship was becoming somewhat obligatory and the self-consciousness that tagged alongside this was rarely shunned.

The very idea of being in love with the idea of a person is very distinct from being in love with the person itself. The book beautifully covers this very important observation that quite a few are missing.

The heroic conventions of going after the lady until you 'save' them are dealt with quite cleverly in this book. What if the lady needs no savings? Quotes such as "what a treacherous thing to believe that a person is more than a person" and "It is easy to forget how full the world is of people, full to bursting, and each of them imaginable and consistently misimagined", perfectly sensitize the readers about the fact that people's lives are more than as we think it is in our minds. 

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Saving the best for the last, here we are with the book that is my all-time classic favorite. To me, this is not a book but an insight that only made me a better person. I picked it up randomly from a friend's house a few years back, warned to be bored to death, little did I know how impactful this read was going to be. 

Very beautifully woven through the eyes of a young child, how cruelly innocent it was to see the world through such a lens. Set in the times of apartheid, this read is something more than just a happy ending, it's reality. This book not only talks about the brave themes of justice and equality but more than that about how different reality gets when you see a person after you remove all filters of prejudice.

The quote, “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” is a lesson for all. 

Well, these were some books that gave me a lot more than I expected to ever receive, and surely this remains true for a whole lot of others. We often read books but do we read them? I hope we do from now on as a book has more to offer than just a library aesthetic. 

Written by- Abhya kaushik

Edited by- Priyanshi Deolal