Alice got lost in wonderland.
I am Alice. I got lost in the Library. Today, I checked into my neighborhood library after two months.
Oh what all I missed!
But you know? Parenting/Motherhood changes a person a lot. From the inside.
As I spent more than 40 minutes strolling my the children’s reading shelves, I just wanted to bring my kids here, or take every interesting knowledge-filled book and give them to read.
Read is a small word. It is as good as actually travelling into another dimension altogether.
I want my kids to discover the planets, the stars, the solar system, the earth, the forests and their animals, types of people around the world. I want them to discover these things the way my dad introduced them to me. Through big, thick, colorful books and encyclopedias.
I can still recall the small of each of those books, the wonder filled in my eyes as I read about and looked at each new thing in this big wide world I did not know about.
Oh what a journey it has been! I cannot carry a lot of books. Hence, I had to sadly, filter out some of them and take only some.
The library being a 15 – 20 minute walk from home is now a heavy huge task for me given the Canadian snow and weather and my own heavy condition.
When people search for homes, they look out for convenience of things and stores around them. Now, the Library is on the top of my list. It is truly a refuge. A refuge from wasteful stuff I scroll aimlessly on Instagram search and Facebook scrolling.
There is so much to learn. So much to read. So much to share the reading fantasy with the kids. I really pray if not all, at least one of my kids takes on my passion for reading the way I do. (And, eventually, that will become my most favorite child :] ).
People say a lot about Islam. Muslim think about Islam from various perspectives. The one first thing that endeared me was the very first revelation. The very first word, that came down from the heavens to mankind. The very, very very first word.
“IQRA…..IQRA BISMI RABBI KALLAZI KHALAQ.”
This translates to: Read! Read In the Name of your Lord, Who has created (all that exists).
That is the first thing asked of mankind. To read. About everything the Great Lord has created. Of every thing, around and inside. In our minds and in the world that we can touch and feel and smell.
Wow. If I could get another lifetime, I would just want to read. Just read…