I reached home on Rakshabandhan, when I was greeted with a cotton thaila nested on my desk.
As I looked into it, I see it is full of 10-15 books that my sister had resent to me, months after I had given these books to my niece (her daughter) for reading.
When she came home over the weekend, I asked her curiously, “What made you send back these books?”
“No one reads them, so they were simply occupying shelf space,” she said as a matter-of-factly.
I can still imagine myself being stunned at her response.
I have usually made it my nature to not contradict people’s statements, but reading books is so important for my nieces’ future. That is what I told her.
She agreed to take the books, but there was no action in the 10 days that followed.
Now was the time for me to realise the truth with a deep breath…
Anyway, if I cannot force them into reading by shoving the books into their home, I think it is time for me to take a step back.
The last statement also comes from the fact that this month is my eldest nephew and eldest niece’s birthday. I wanted to give each of them a gift, but I guess for the niece it is a cash equivalent to the price of the book I get for the nephew 🙂
Honestly it breaks my heart to do this, but in order to find, one must ought to be a seeker. And other seekers (read: me) need to realise that you cannot coerce everyone into being a seeker.
