It's bad to be a 'Book'ie

You might say, "Don't we know that already? Thanks for the brand new information smart guy!!" But I'll tell you what's new about that. 'Bookie' is the exciting new word coined for that endangered species of book lovers, and you don't have to be a rocket scientist for guessing the tone right! "Did you say you like books?! Gosh! What a douche!" Yes.. that's your image now. Face it. Gone are the days when book-addicts ruled the world (immediately after the dinosaurs; or so I would like to think). They've fallen headlong from the heady heights of greatness to the abyss of disrepute, all in a span of twenty years! Woho! That was fast! So what can you do about it? Nothing. Just sit on your bed, buried in your books and sulk.

Well not that it came as a complete shock to me. I could see the apathy that people around me have for books, all the time.

X: "What are you getting me for my birthday this time?"
Me: "I was thinking of getting you a book, but I'm confused which one"
X: " Oh! Don't bother! Get me anyone of your favourites! :)"

What X really wanted to say was, " Books! Are you freaking kiddin' me? Who on Earth reads books? and just so you know, I care two hoots for your favourites! Duh!
Oh! and one more question! Why are we friends again?"

All that said behind the garb of that seemingly innocent smiley! Yes X. You think you're smart and an Academy Award winning actor but I just read your mind and Psychics are cool!

But even after facing this time and again, I somehow kept telling myself that people might hate books but they don't hate those who love them. Until this happened.

I was waiting in a high end Gurgaon mall the other day for a friend to turn up. She got caught up in traffic and I had a good half an hour to kill. I opened my bag to find 'The life of Pi' sitting there, waiting to fill up those empty waiting minutes. So I sat there on one of those fancy benches amidst lots of bored couples and panting grandmothers, and promptly started reading. A good fifteen minutes later I happened to look up and I let out an audible gasp! Everyone around was staring at me, eyes popping out of their sockets. The look on their faces made me cringe! Hey I wasn't shoplifting was I?! and I'm definitely not dressed in an 18th century ballroom gown! Oh now I get it. I was caught in a mall doing the unthinkable.. Reading! I somehow tried to forget that loathing look and got back to reading as if nothing happened, secretly wanting to make a dash for the door. God! where are you?!!

A couple of minutes later, a lady and her ten year old son happened to come and sit next to me. The lady was obese ( that was me being polite, so you can imagine ), falling in heaps over a rather stifling belt holding her mass together at the waist. Her bowling pin shaped arms had bags with every possible designer label on them. No wonder she needed a seat. Her son was plump, soon to turn into the image of his beloved mother, unless there was divine intervention. I thought about their poor exhausted hearts for a moment and went back to my pages.

Boy ( staring at me ): Mommy! I want a book!
Mommy ( absentmindedly ): Baby! Don't stand on the bench! ( making no further efforts to make him sit )
Boy: But Mommy! I want a book!
Mommy: You want Ice cream?
Boy: yay!! I want a hot chocolate fudge!!

They disappear into the distance; with Mommy trying to explain something to her son, frequently glancing at me. I wondered why the lady didn't once say , " yes baby! I'll buy you an Enid Blyton! How awesome would that be!" That's what my Mom used to say everytime I wanted an ice cream. Well tables have turned. I'm pretty sure the boy was being told not to be like the loser Bhaiya  sitting next to him on the bench and how smart kids don't read books and have ice cream instead. Yes lady, you'll realize what you're doing when your darling son grows up to be a football who would rather roll than walk, who would spell 'Vocabulary' with a 'K' till when he's 30, and who will call Gucci his dad!

I love my books and I'm not in the least apologetic about it. Go excommunicate me if you want, but I would rather be smart than be a mannequin. I'm a 'book'ie and I love it. I love those small print letters on a yellow moth eaten page. I love that occasional whiff of brand new books. I think I should marry Arundhati Roy. There I said it. You hate me now from the core of your heart right? Thanks! You can officially go and drown yourself now. You have my leave..