The Book in the Corner

In the corner of my room is my bookshelf. It’s adorned with some of my favorites and then some which are yet to be read. I have spent days contemplating the order and time I will read these books in. Which I will revisit and which are just for collection. There is one book there which has not seen the light of day since I put it there - the dictionary.

We all have that blue cover Collins or Oxford giant in our home. At times we decide on the ‘pocket version’ which is not meant for the pocket, thinking that it’ll be easier to access and use. We hope and at times believe that the smaller the dictionary, the more it will be used. I have had a variety of dictionaries in the past 21 years ranging from the classic Hindi to English and vice versa, as well as the standard Oxford “pocket” dictionary. How many times I have actually used the dictionary as a medium of knowledge? The answer hovers somewhere near a dozen.

We usually become adept readers at the age of 12 and would have teachers constantly nagging us to use a dictionary. As a child I was never interested in even looking at a dictionary. The small amount of work and watching TV was enough to pass my day and forget about anything else. A book full of words that are difficult and weird sounding was never an attractive thing to keep myself occupied with.

If only I had paid attention, I wouldn’t have faced embarrassment of epic proportions later in higher classes. But I learnt and conquered the essentials of a dictionary and then I bought a new one. The fresh covers made it irresistible like any other new book. However unlike others it remains tucked in the corner coming out rarely. Its only use now is for the occasional glance it gets and the satisfaction that follows it.