Gloomy days come without notices. Raindrops trespass the hospitality of your veranda without invitation. Lying on the bed with a book in hand is the second best thing to walking out and getting wet in the shower. The words that greet you would be as magical as the drizzle that kisses your hair and face. The characters you find among the pages will be as fascinating as the melody of the patter. The choice whether to let yourself dance in the rain or let the characters dance in your head, entirely lies in your hands!
Hellen Keller is the best rainy-day companion if you are craving for a dose of optimism in your life. Her biography, ‘The Story of my life,’ not only makes her the most optimistic human being to have ever walked on earth, but also makes you realize that the world you constantly call ‘bad’ is not that bad after all!
If you think your life is a misery-welcome to Charles Dickens’ London. Take his hand and walk down the dirty London streets. Be inspired to make things better for those who are not as privileged as you. If you feel handling the pile of documents on your desk is a fatal torture, it’s your time to read Nelson Mandela’s ‘Long Walk to Freedom.’
If you wish to dig deeper and get strangled in subtle realities of relationship and complex individualities, nothing would do better than Paulo Coelho’s magical realism and popular spiritual fiction. ‘The Alchemist’ may be the best piece that came out of his pen which addresses to anyone irrespective of his/her believes, caste and creed. But ‘By the River Peidra I sat down and wept’ and ‘Zahir’ beat ‘the boy’ in many ways.
Even if you read Archie comics or Stephanie Meyer, nothing would stop you from going back to classics. They will be best sellers until you keep falling in love with Mr. Rochester and Mr. Darcy. They will be immortal until you keep treading down the halls of Pemberley and Thorn field hall. And in your hearts of hearts you know, you don’t have to wait for a rainy day hug your dog-eared Jane Eyre for the four-hundredth time.
If you need a new definition for determination and courage, meet Madame Curie in Eve Curie’s biography on her mother. Not only you’ll feel the energy that ran through the body of the small made woman, but also the immovable courage and over-brimming love of a mother. If you complain about 9-5 office work and two kids-madame Curie had three kids-her two daughters and radium.
If you think Princess Diaries are better than all the regency books put together, it is your time to meet Georgette Heyer. If you need good stir in the mind, Oscar wilde should be your first choice, his ‘Picture of the Dorian Grey’ must have got him into trouble, but his ‘Happy Prince’ can make you cry for its simplicity and portraying of universal human suffering.
If you want to pick up something closer to home, Shehan karunatilake is the best person to satisfy your hunger for cricket-reads; that is only if you can handle his razor-blade sarcasm. Nihal de Silva would be your pick if you get used to his settings. Only, don’t fall in love with Captain Wasantha- he is mine!
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