Your ticket to get aboard The Polar Express and explore the North Pole...

The first book that I read was Chris Van Allsburg's Polar Express which originally came out in 1985 but it found its way into my life in 2008 when I was in 8th Grade. I was just rummaging through my school library’s bookshelf and my fingers brushed along a dusty copy of the book and I just took it from the library and started reading it on that day itself. It was an enchanting story of how fantasy can intertwine with the reality and give you an experience that you'll eternally remember. It was such an emotional ride for me to read a book like that because not only did I read the book but I also visited places that I wasn’t even aware existed in this world (obviously, in my mind!)

When I completed reading the book I felt like I had accomplished something so wonderful that I couldn't express in words at all. The next day in school my friends kept asking me why I was so taciturn the whole day and I just kept telling them that I had visited the North Pole (don't laugh I was in 8th Grade, remember?) That was the first book that I ever read and I still remember, it has been ten years, the impact that book had on me. It augmented my visualising skills and also gave me a tinge of motivation to write something of my own which I began with, my writing, a few years later.

Reading books is not only an experience but a journey that not only will give you imperishable memories but also a journey that burns no holes in your pocket. All you have to do is just get onto a comfortable chair, have a cup of tea beside you, cover yourself with a duvet, take a deep breath and just open those pages and dive into the world of unknown. Every time you pick up a book you won't be just picking up a ream of papers which are chronologically bound together but you'll be picking up a travelling ticket for your new journey. In my case when I picked up The Polar Express it was a Golden Ticket for me!

Reading books take you to places you have never been and also it gives you the comfort of your own solitary company. Reading books give you an understanding of different cultures and they also make you understand your inner self. Reading books gives you a new group of friends and also they give you a chance to befriend yourself. Reading books is a pleasure that is in everybody's grasp but still, some people choose not to live it.

I just have one last thing to say, read books, not as an avocation or a pastime but read it because it is necessary to sometimes leave this conceited world and adore another world that you never knew existed beyond your imagination.