You might consider me totally wasted if I
tell you that my favourite pastime is to clean my bookshelf/ book-cupboard, and
rearrange all of my books EVERY WEEK.
My Saturday morning ritual is fixed– I
remove all the books to make sure none of them has been bent (being in a
cramped space) or gotten wet (due to rains). I clean the cupboard with a wet
cloth then with a dry cloth, and finally put all the books back. This sacred
ceremony takes me almost two-three hours.
(Yes, priorities.)
Depending on my mood, every week I try
different ways of arranging it- genre wise, author wise, alphabetically, etc.
You are free to call it an obsession or an
addiction. I prefer to call it ‘maintenance’. Just like an engine which needs
servicing and oiling every now and then, so does our bookshelf. It often
requires love, care and grooming. Probably every week is a little too much, but
I realised I am not the only one.
It is only a matter of time when every
reader ultimately turns into a hoarder. And everyone have diverse ways or
ritual of maintaining their shelves.
I asked some of my friends to share their
bookish routine and a few pictures of their bookshelves.
I was happy not to find
myself alone.
Zahra
Gabuji
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| Zahra's Bookshelf |
Being a
literature student, most of the books that you see on her shelf are similar to
those on mine. Despite being a messy person, she is very particular about her
books. She tells me that, “My bookshelf represents who I am. I have lived
several of these characters. These books have been like little houses, you go
inside and stay there for a while…
My
husband, who is not a reader, organises the bookshelf and takes good care of it
as well. He knows what it means to me.
[Every reader’s definition of true love.]
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| Zahra's Bookshelf (close up from the right side) |
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| Zahra's Bookshelf (close up from the left side) |
Except
cleaning the bookshelf and books every fortnight, I prefer arranging them
according to their nationality and genre. I love to write/ scribble inside my
novels- notes on characters, plot or anything else that I may find interesting,
and I encourage my friends to do the same.”
(Thank You, Jalal Mortezai, for taking out time
to click these pictures and emailing them to me.)
Ashna
Bahl
We both have been borrowing each other’s
books since the time we became friends. It was she who got me hooked to G.
David’s Shantaram. Ashna thinks of her bookshelf as the least fanciest
part of her house. She likes something sturdy so she can hoard her books on it.
“I am such a hoarder that a part of my
bookshelf actually broke and what you see are the remains of it. I clean my
bookshelf every week, but more importantly I have a weird habit of changing
every book’s position depending on which book I’m fond of at the moment.
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| Ashna's Bookshelf |
Hence, you’ll find my favourites stacked at
the top and least favourite ones at the bottom.
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| Ashna's Bookshelf |
Therefore any new book will
find a place on the shelf depending on how much I liked it.”
If you
thought you had an obsession, you haven’t met Minnati. Her obsession with books
is to another level.
(Psst...I am always
too scared to borrow her books; she has like a million rules.)
“I'm very
lucky to have my father agree to let me have a floor to ceiling (seriously)
bookshelf in my room! I wanted a library ladder à la Beauty and the Beast, but
never mind.
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| Minnati's floor to ceiling bookshelf |
I have 4
compartments in my shelf, out of which the two smaller ones hold religious
books and monthly glossies. The two bigger ones (of 8 shelves each) are where
ALL my other books are kept. (Currently only 10 shelves out of the 16 are
filled.)
I organize them largely height-wise, with some sets of books also organized author or genre wise (if their heights are the same, if not, then I rather prefer them height-wise). [This is where I tell you that she suffers from an obsessive-compulsive-disorder. She is a total neat-freak.]
The first of the larger book cases hold (in top to bottom order), one shelf of classic 18th century literature, followed by three shelves of literary fiction, followed by two shelves of chick lit.
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| Minnati's Bookshelf (close up) |
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| Minnati's Bookshelf (close up) |
The
leather hardcover classics belonged to my paternal grandfather, who gave it to
my father, who in turn gave them to me. They're an actual family heirloom, with
some of the books dating back to over 60-70 years!
I clean
and dust my bookshelf daily, and rearrange to accommodate new books on a
monthly basis.”
She is a
lover of classics, who has a certain fixation with Russian classics. Her
bookshelf/cupboard compliments mine.
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| Divyasha's Bookshelf |
“I am way
too attached with my bookshelf/ book-cupboard. It is my world. I can spend
hours arranging and re-arranging these books or simply stare at them. Each book
is a part of me and summarises my journey so far.
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| Divyasha's Bookshelf (close up) |
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| Divyasha's Bookshelf (close up) |
I clean
my bookshelf every time I need to make space for new books. (That would be every
month.)”
We are just 5 people among million other
readers who share an unfathomable attachment with our respective books and
bookshelves.
I will sum up with what Zahra and Divyasha
told me. Our bookshelf represents us. We have lived several of these characters
and stories.
Each book summarises our journey so far.
