“ You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read. It was books that taught me that the things that tormented me most were the very things that connected me with all the people who were alive, who had ever been alive. ” — James Baldwin , from an interview in the Life magazine, May 24, 1963 G rowing up as an introverted child, I always thought there was something “wrong” with me.
When those of my age connected well with one another and formed beautiful friendships, I somehow felt left out and unseen. I wondered why I could not strike a rapport with my peers, and this somehow convinced my little self that being an introvert is something to be ashamed of. Everyone kept asking me, “Why can’t you speak more?”, “Why can’t you be more social?” The constant questions plagued my being.
Later, in my teenage years, when Facebook burst into the scene, I stumbled upon a post with a Mark Twain quote: “The worst loneliness is to not be comfortable with yourself.” That changed the entire trajectory of my life, pushing me into a whirlwind of confusion and reflections. I started searching for the book from which this quote came and ended up reading Adventures of Huckleberry Finn , the first novel I devoured, the beginning of a lifelong friendship with books.
I turned to books, books, and more books thereafter. They became my best buddies, go-to guides, and ride-or-die pals, and most important, my definition of h.