Wisdom knows no bounds

Reading is a dying trade. A student with a story book is a rare find.

"But no time what," is the usual reply. "So many things to study, so many tests."

I was a voracious reader, who would find means and ways to read a book. Hiding under the blanket with a torch, spending hours in the toilet away from my mom's nagging, and even resorting to putting the book at the corner of my table in school while the lesson was going on. I was impatient to know the ending to my hero.

Holidays were the best. I would pay a visit to Sunny bookstore or the library and carry back a pile of books. I would get ready my father's rattan chair and a glass of water. For the next few hours, other than an occasional visit to the toilet, nothing could move me from my seat, not even lunch or dinner.

I spent my holidays visiting the diamond-filled beach in Africa, watching the negotiations behind the Iron-curtain country, experiencing the civil war with Abraham Lincoln and entering the world of fantasy in the mist of Avalon. I also enjoyed stories set in the Singapore scene such as Or Else! The lightning God and Tanamara. The characters came alive for me when they finally filmed the show Tanamera. I have several favourite authors - Barbara Bratford Taylor, Eric Segal, John Grisham, Heather Graham, Isaav Askimov, and I completed not only one book but the whole series.

The treasures that were found within the books. All within their reach. I wonder if they know what they are missing out.