Books and Loneliness: A Thought
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Shreya Swarnakar, 25MBAB13 MBA, Institute of Management Kristu Jayanti (Deemed to be University) |
Humans feel deeply. Unlike animals, we experience a wide range of complex emotions and ideas-we think, we process, we reflect. But what happens when you're surrounded by people who don't? Especially when you're constantly around people your age who are, for lack of a better word, mediocre people who reinforce only what already exists within you. Nothing new is introduced—no new way of seeing, no mental upliftment. Of course, there are exceptions—some people are different and insightful. But they are rare.
And that's where books come in.
When you read the words of someone who has lived, who has suffered, reflected, evolved, and seen the world for what it is, you get access to a life far beyond your own. You sit with the thoughts of someone whose entire journey, filled with insights and transformation, has been distilled into 400 or 500 pages. You find a kind of company that is hard to come by in the real world. A company that elevates you. A presence you didn't even know you needed.
Books are a quiet refuge for those who feel left out in a world that's often too loud and too shallow. We spend so much time doing things we don't really want to do, being with people we aren't even sure we want to be around. But books help you clarify that. They help you see what you truly desire, what you truly value.
Whenever I feel lonely, I pick up a book— and I find myself again. The book I'm currently reading is so mentally stimulating and full of life-changing ideas that I can't help but feel sorry for a generation that doesn't read. I want people to know, to learn, to expand. Experiences in life do teach you things, but only to the extent that your ego allows. Reading, on the other hand, pushes you beyond your ego. It shows you life from a place you never imagined. I come from a small town—a place where people don't often read the kinds of books I do. Many are stuck in loops of ordinary thinking, reading fiction that only mirrors their own limited world. But I've found writers, people I've never met, but whose words have reached me in ways no one in my real life ever has. Their writing has pierced through layers of thought and emotion, reshaping how I see the world and myself.
In today's fast-changing world, where we often lose touch with who we are, reading is one of the few things that can help us reconnect with ourselves. Not a person.
Not an experience. But books. To understand yourself better and the world more deeply, you must read.
And I genuinely believe Durga Ma brought this gift into my life.
The habit of reading. The joy of being with great minds. The blessing of knowing that even if the world around me feels shallow, there are brilliant people out there whose thoughts live on, waiting in books.
Read, and you'll see: most people around you are only chasing money, fame, and shallow pleasures. But life is so much more than that. Human existence is too precious to waste in ignorance. There's so much to know, to feel, to become.
Books have shown me that.
And I want others to feel it too.