Books and Attitude of People - Post 2
Author :
Tan
Blog :My Online Space
Date: 10/27/2011 3:26:00 PM
I have been a book-lover right from childhood. From a very small age, I would choose books if given a choice between books and toys. As I grew up, my love for books grew up with me. Reading faced a setback when I reached higher classes and professional college, but it started again when I started working. In this post, I want to talk about the attitude of people in general when it comes to books that they borrow from others on the pretext of reading. I will explain this through an experience of mine.
There is a D.C book store near Technopark. I purchased a book from there and was planning to read it soon. There was this lady who was working with me at that time. We both had joined the company on the same day and were friends even though it could not be described as a friendship anywhere in the ‘good’ or ‘close’ category. It had been almost 10 months since I had known her and she was planning to quit from the company as her marriage was fixed with a guy working abroad. As she was surviving the notice period of 2 months, she was released from her project and was sitting idle with no work. She had to come to office every day and was bored and had to find some means to kill time. I don’t remember how she came to know about the book that I had purchased, but one fine morning, she called me up and asked me to bring that book so that she could read it and spend her time. I strictly told her that I haven’t read the book myself and that she should remember to return it before she goes off from the company. Many days passed and I occasionally used to remind her to return the book to me. She told me she would return it on the last day she came to the company. At last, that day came and she was busy completing all formalities and bidding goodbyes. When I asked her the book, she told me to my horror that she forgot to bring it from home and that she would return it when she comes to Trivandrum for her wedding, after spending 2 months with her parents abroad. She apologized and told me not to worry and that she would come once again to Technopark to invite us all for her wedding. Two months passed and she informed us that she is coming soon. I sent her a mail reminding her about the book but this time, the reply she sent to me was coated with a layer of irritation. I felt I might have annoyed her when I constantly asked her about the book and that she might be busy and stressed out with her wedding preparations. I consoled myself by believing that she would return the book when she comes to invite us all for her wedding. Anyways, what happened was that she never came to Technopark and just sent us the invite through mail and that book was never heard of again. More than 2 years have passed since this incident and I sometimes chat with her on FB. Till today, she has never had the courtesy to apologize or tell me something that would make me not regret having given the book to her. I never bothered asking her again because I became tired of asking. I feel sorry for having given that book to her and that too when I had not read it even once.
Now, what I want to emphasize on, is about the attitude of people in general when they borrow books from others. The people who borrow books from others might think, “After all, it is only a book. What is the big deal about it?” But, people who really loves books and treasure them would feel ripped apart when their books are not returned. My experience is not the only case. I have heard the same kind of instances from many of my friends. Some people who borrow books from others would either never return them or would return in the most unimaginable condition possible. In college, there was this girl in my hostel who was notorious for never returning books that she borrowed. After my experience, I am very choosy about the people to who I lend books. It may sound very mean, but I feel it is better to be careful and not regret about it later. All book-lovers out there, do you have any such experiences to share? Please use the comment box.