My mum used to hate it every time when I’d sneak into the Liberty bookstore in the Dolmen Mall. For her, I’d be lost there forever and wont come out till she’d be really angry and it was time to go home. And I think everyone I know love the feeling of soo many books stacked all around you and you don’t know where to start and what to pick first with that butterfly feeling in your stomach (except for your mum who knows you have quite a few books lying around at home that you haven’t had time to read yet!).
Anyway, last night we visited this huge bookstore in Riyadh. And it was like a dream come true! Just imagine looking at those thousands of mouth watering books and the glossy title pages or hard covers or even paperbacks stacked neatly in shelves after shelves after shelves. And all you want to do is to forget everything, and sit on the floor in the midst of all those books and just read till eternity. *sigh*
All this drooling over books in the bookstore reminded me of the time when we were in our Masters final year. In our first semester we were supposed to write one research paper. The class was divided into two groups and the incharge of our group decided to take us down in the basement of the main library of ku. The basement is one hell of a place. It has thousands and thousands and thousands of books! The smell of old paper, the shelves filled with such wisdom, such life, and such calmness that one can spend hours there without paying heed to the passage of time. Our professor asked us to stay close because cellphones don’t catch signals there and if we were lost, we might be lost forever. But seriously, that one basement is the most awesome place in the world.
How can one forget the book fair at KU and the cheap prices they offer. And the expo center book fair! I remember spending eidis at such bookfairs and the frustration of my mum as we(me and my siblings) would come home with shoppers of books, and she would say,’ye kahan rakho ge?’ Well.. I guess all our mothers have the same concerns. Hehe.
Anyway, since Dawood gets hold of everything first, I need to sacrifice my sleep in order to read those books that I’ve bought. I know all of us have crazy reading habits and even after having a baby I keep getting caught in those whirlpools where you just can’t stop reading. I remember one time my father threatened to actually tear and burn one book when he caught me reading in the candle light at around 2 am. Well, I didn’t stop reading I went downstairs and read the rest in the light from my brother’s cell phone! he he.
Reflections... 