I love reading. When I say I love reading, I mean I can read almost anything and everything. Hence, I very rarely get bored. When I was a kid, I use to love "Amar Chitra Katha" and "Indrajaal Comics". Phantom was my favorite character. But my father never encouraged my interest in comics. He would buy me the books by Russian Authors. They were good and very informative too, but .... comics are comics.

As I grew up, my reading habits changed with age. I read fiction, classics, history etc. And one day, a close friend Nandini,introduced me to the writings of Ayn Rand and Richard Bach. I read, got influenced, and read more and more of the two authors and am slowly evolving. These two authors have strengthened my thinking. The characters of Jonathon Livingston Seagull, Howard Roark, John Galt, Dagny Taggart, Wookie and Leslie ... I admire them all.

I have a small library of novels. My home library has the complete collection of Ayn Rand. I love reading Fountainhead. The speech delivered by Roark in the COurt Room is what I enjoy most: "Thousand of years ago, the first man discovered how to make fire. He was probably burned at the stake he had taught his brothers to light. He was considered an evildoer who had dealt with a demon mankind dreaded......" (complete speech). "Atlas Shrugged", "We the living", "The Virtue of Selfishness", "Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal"... each of them is good.

"Every man is free to rise as far as he's able or willing,
but it's only the degree to which he thinks that determines
the degree to which he'll rise".

Richard Bach has an ability to inspire hope, joy and wonder in us. His writings allow us to see a Jonathan Livingston Seagull within ourselves ("Jonathan Livingstone Seagull"). I started with "The Bridge Across Forever" and went on to read "Illusions - The Confessions of a Reluctant Messiah", "One" and "Out of My Mind". The one that got embedded in my heart and mind is "Jonathon Livingston Seagull" and the quote: "The gull sees farthest who flies highest".

"There's a reason to life! We can lift ourselves out of ignorance,
we can find ourselves as creatures of excellence and intelligence
and skill. We can be free! We can learn to fly!".

Next author I would like to mention here is none other than the author of "Love Story", Erik Segal. Oliver and Jenny....  and their love story is what "Love Story" is all about.  This novel is truly "For Someone who is in Love, or was in Love, or Hopes to be in Love".

"Love means not ever having to say you're sorry"

Other works of Erik Segal won't stand as tall as "Love Story", but are good. Timothy, Daniel and Deborah of "Acts of Faith" are interesting characters to read about. "Man, Woman and Child" and "The Class" are other two works of Erik Segal that I have read.

We had to study the works of Shakespeare, as part of our school curriculum, hence, did not enjoy his work much. But my interest in English classics remained and I have few of them in my personal library. Thomas Hardy is an author I started with at an early age. His first work I read was, "Mayer of Casterbridge", and fell in love with the character of Michael Henchard, the Mayer of Casterbridge. To me, he signified the energy and strength. "Tess of D'urbervilles" is a touching story of an English woman of medieval England whom Hardy refers to as "a pure woman", even after her seduction by a rich relative. Charles Dickens is another author I would like to mention here. I have enjoyed reading his "Great Expectations".

"Gone with the Wind", is another book I enjoyed reading. The love story and character of Scarlet-O-Hara and Rhett Butler have been well developed by the author and make an interesting reading. "Scarlet", the sequel to "Gone with the Wind", by Alexandra Ripley could not come any where near the novel by Margaret Mitchell.

I had read a section of "To Sir With Love" in one of my schoolbooks and had seen a movie based on this novel. So I was glad when I was first able to lay my hand on this novel. Must have read it number of times since then. Mr. Braithwaite of "To Sir with Love" was my inspiration when I was teaching in "M.N.R.Engg. College, Allahabad".

"Each day I tried to present to them new facts in a way which would excite and stimulate their interest, and gradually they were developing a readiness to comment and also a willingness to tolerate the expressed opinions of others, even when those opinions were diametrically opposed to theirs" "

My early exposure to Russian books led me to read Puskin's works. I have read Fyodor Dostoyevsky's "Crime and Punishment" and "Idiot". I did try reading Lev Tolstoy, but did not find his work that interesting.

Before proceeding to my favourite fiction Authors, I would like to mention few more books that I have enjoyed reading and are important part of my precious possessions, my books. "Zen and the Art of Motor Cycle Maintenance" by Robert M. Pirsig. This book is neither about Zen, the Buddhist philosophy, nor about Motor Cycle maintenance. What it teaches is something still more important and I would like the readers to find it out themselves.

And another great work I enjoyed reading was "A Brief History of Time" by Stephan W. Hawking. It explores the fascinating mysteries in a language we all can understand.

On the fiction front I enjoy reading Fredrick Forsyth. My personal library has almost the complete collection of Fredrick Forsyth. His work is well researched and makes a good reading. The best one is obviously his most famous one "The day of the Jackal". Even "The Fourth Protocol" is good though all his work make an interesting reading.

The other Author who matches Fredrick Forsyth in terms of researching the subject is Robert Ludlum. "Bourne Identity" was his first work that I read. I have read most of his novels but none could match the excitement of "Bourne Identity", though each of them is well researched.

"The GodFather", "The Fourth K" and all other novels of Mario Puzo are part of my collection. Jeffrey Archer, Irwing Wallace, John Grisham, Sidney Sheldon, Ken Follett,, Alistair MacLean, Robin Cook, are other authors, whose work I proudly own.

"Those who don't learn from History are bound to repeat it", is one of the reasons for my interest in history especially political and war history. Anything on Second World War fascinates me. I have read number of books by different historians of the time. Adolf Hitler may be on the hatred list of many, but I am one of his many admirers. "Mein Kampf" makes interesting reading. History tells us that one of the important reasons for downfall of Hitler was that he did not learn from History and so quickly became a history himself.

And in the end I won't like to miss mentioning my favorite "Sherlock Holmes", the great detective created by Sir Arthur Canon Doyle.