In the Midst of Pages by Roopa Sarah Thomas

I grew up on a steady diet of novels and short stories. Before I could speak, Mom was reading me tales of The Three Little Pigs, The Gingerbread Man and Puss in Boots. As I grew a little older, I moved to other fairy tales. I loved Sleeping Beauty, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and Cinderella. Rumpelstilskin, Rapunzel and Tom Thumb were other favourites. So when I had extra homework in LKG, I hoped the elves from The Elves and the Shoemaker would come to the rescue. Before long, Mom introduced me to short stories written by Enid Blyton.

Enid Blyton opened the doors of my imagination. I went to sleep each night imagining that perhaps my toys came alive at night as well. In the garden I searched for friendly gnomes and fairies. Soon I was also looking for the Faraway Tree and the Wishing Chair. At night, I had long dreams about the land of birthdays and goodies and the characters Moonface and Silky became favourite friends.

But I couldn't live in the world of fairies and naughty dolls such as Amelia Jane forever. So, I got hooked on to the adventures of the Famous Five, the Five Findouters and the Secret Seven. Fatty, George, Timothy the Dog, Nora, Peggy and the rest presented a life so fascinating and exciting. And because they lived on scones and ginger beer, I thought the food I was getting to eat wasn't interesting enough.

Then came the years when boys became an interesting species. Nancy Drew and her adventures were exciting, but more exciting was her handsome boyfriend Ned. I used to ransack shelves in bookshops in search of editions where Ned and Nancy make up after a fight. I lived in a world of romance for a while before moving on to Poirot. I was so fascinated by the character that I read Agatha Christie's autobiography to find out how she was inspired to create him. I had imagined a great story behind his creation. But he was inspired by someone she saw in a train. Boring! This led to a phase of reading autobiographies and biographies. Never Gandhi or Nehru, only queens and writers. Strangely enough, unlike my friends I never went through the "Mills & Boon" stage. I preferred reading Benazir Bhutto's Daughter of the East and Maharani Gayathri Devi's A Princess Remembers. For humour I looked towards autobiographical works by Monica Dickens. With illustrious ancestors like Charles Dickens she had to be good.

I also loved reading about generations of families, so who better than Taylor Caldwell. But my all-time favourite has been Gone With the Wind. I continue to read it over and over again. Scarlett O'Hara is undoubtedly one of the most complete characters, with traces of good and the not so good. And Rhett Butler is the most romantic character created on paper. The movie didn't do full justice to the book, so I never went back to see the movie again.

The list of favourites is never-ending. Alex Hailey's Roots and Queen, Somerset Maugham's entire works, Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights and of course an occasional Thomas Hardy, despite the inherent pessimism in his books. Critics and filmmakers continued to pay tribute to the greatest love story (according to them), Romeo and Juliet. But my favourite love story is undoubtedly Wuthering Heights. The passion in Heathcliff has never been seen in any other character.

But I've also had my share of Robin Cook, Jeffery Archer, Sidney Sheldon and Stephen King. So when I thought fantasy and magic were out of my life, in came Harry Potter. I took a ride to the book store and came back with all four editions. Rowling's tales were superb and for the first time, I felt Enid Blyton had found her successor. Roald Dahl was as good with children's fiction, but I preferred his unusual short stories on ghosts and ordinary people.

Now my reading has reduced a good deal, owing to a hectic schedule. But to this day, I go to bed only after I've read at least a page. So when I finish this little piece and jump into bed, I'll remember to take along a book. For now, it's Ayn Rand's Fountainhead. The saga of an architect makes my day complete and prepares me for a long night of comfortable sleep. And thanks to these books, I've never once felt bored or lonely, because when you are a reader, you will always have interesting friends. I have Rhett Butler and Noddy for friends. Do you?