Nothing beats the joy of reading

2016 is the ‘Year of Reading’ in the UAE, and it is indeed a praise-worthy initiative towards the creation of an intelligent society. I must confess that I’m not an avid reader, and if it wasn’t for some great literature teachers, I’d never have fallen in love with classics like ‘To Sir With Love’ and ‘Bridge to Terabithia’. I also confess that I enjoy re-reading far more than reading itself. To me, the joy of a story is in its capacity of revelation each time it is revisited.

One book that I have read several times for over six years now, and continues to intrigue me every time is Mark Reibstein’s ‘Wabi Sabi’. The story is about the journey of Wabi Sabi, a cat and his quest to find the meaning of his name. Then, among the pine woods at the foot of Mount Hiei, a wise monkey tells him: “Listen, watch and feel.” He urges him to look carefully at the woods surrounding them – unlike the perfectly planned city, imperfection abounds in nature but it is still beautiful. Then, he realises that the meaning of his name is finding extraordinary beauty in imperfect and ordinary things.

Similarly, when I turned 13, I joined a project to teach various art forms to rural schools in India. It was then and there that I rediscovered Wabi Sabi while working with these children. More than creating the perfect kirigami, it was the joy of spending time with less privileged people and learning how much we had in common that was my Wabi Sabi.

At the age of 14, I moved to a school in Dubai and ridden with anxiety over the fact that I was in a new school and in a new country. Finding new connotations to Wabi Sabi in accepting people for who they are helped me make new friends quickly. Now, I’m almost 16 years old and Wabi Sabi helps me make sense of the chaos in the world.

Re-reading is as joyous of an experience as reading itself. If nothing, it shows how the reader has evolved.

— The reader is a an Indian student based in Dubai