Reading is to mind what exercise is to body. Just as exercise strengthens our body so also reading makes us wise and erudite. It has been rightly said that a well read person is never a bore. A well read person can converse sensibly as he can draw words sensibly from the vast store of knowledge acquired through reading.
Reading widens our mental horizons and enhances our thinking facilities. It changes our narrow interpretitions and intolerant opinions and expands our consciousness and awareness of reality. It stimulates us to expand our imagination. Reading self educating books, self improvement books and auto-biographies inspire and motivate us.
When we read a story, we become fully absorbed in it and partake in all the happiness and dissapointments of the characters. Books on expeditions and adventures fire our imagination. Detective stories like Sherlock Holmes take us through a tangle of clues and finally solve a ghastly crime. From all these we derive pleasure, instruction and inspiration.
It is impossible for us to visit every place on the earth but the books on travelling can take us anywhere we want. We can picture the jungles of Africa, the desert of Sahara, the eerie silence of grand canyon and the breathtaking scene from mountain tops. We learn about customs and traditions followed by different communities across the world. We become familiar with the strict life of Samurais, the duels faught for honour and many such things. Journals on Science and Geography reveal so many secrets that makes us more interested on the Earth we live on.
It is one of the most popular forms of self development and entertainment. But these days, with the advancements in technology, there is more distraction and other things for people to do. Many people have lost interest in reading, they prefer to watch television or play video games or spend all their time on their phones. However, there can be no better passtime than reading. It provides relaxation to the mind and improves it at the same time. Happy is the man who has acquired the habit of reading; he will never be lonely or bored.