My Books - My Treasure

During a candid chat with Prof. Dr Ashwin Desai in Surat one fine day, he asked me about the list of books I possess and I had no answer! I thought why not prepare an inventory, along with an article containing a brief description and their photographs.
I also happened to read an article in Reader’s Digest around the same time about the set of books the lady author owned. She advised to keep books around - within reach and there were chances of your reading the book. She advocated to keep on purchasing the books, so that one day you may come out reading the precious collection you have already purchased at a sky-high expense. Let me describe them and I wish photos speak more.

1. Academic Books on Ophthalmology and General Medicine: Being a life member of the Indian Medical Association New Delhi (IMA) and All India Ophthalmology Society (AIOS), the journals and proceedings made my first heap of books. Yes, I have read them. I have books on Ophthalmology purchased off and on.



2. Anavils: Because of my stay in Anavil inhabited area – South Gujarat (India) and being Anavil Brahmin myself, the first ever set of books is on Anavils of South Gujarat. My most read article on this blog – Anavils of South Gujarat An Endangered Species – was derived from this collection. I have nearly total literature depicting all about the history of this caste. The autobiography of great personalities in the Anavil community makes a big set of books, like that of Morarji Desai (Former Prime Minister of India), Mahadev Desai, Narayan Desai and many others. My article on Morarji Desai is a summary of 900 pages book on him.



3. History: When I was studying in high school, I never liked social studies in general and history in particular. To correct that mistake, I started collecting books on history for all standards from 1 to B.A., M.A. to convince myself that I am interested in the subject. I have written a lot on my blog about the history of Gujarat, India and World. My blog contains a summary of the history of Gujarat and India with my analysis of Indian politics.



4. Religion: My area of interest widened after being a student of history and later different religions took over. My library has nearly two hundred books describing Islam, Christianity, Hinduism, Jainism and others. I have read, Bible, Ramayana, Mahabharat, Bhagavad Gita, Jainism and the journey of reading continues.



5. Travel: My treasure of books contains the world, India and Gujarat atlas with descriptive books on tourist places in India and abroad.

6. My library possesses sets of books on mother, daughter and old age. I have a collection of complete sets of books by different authors like Osho, Swami Anand, Mahendra Meghani, Mahendra Desai, Naginadas Sanghvi, Bhagwati Kumar Sharma, Swami Satchidananda and others.



7. Storybooks of children also make an interesting set.



Reading books makes me happy – it’s a worthy activity, gives me pleasure and satisfaction. I do not stop reading the book, I want to write a summary of them. My 200+ blog articles are the outcome of the same. My blog has made 3 lacks+ visitors having seen and read my story. Gandevi Library members – Thakorbhai Desai, Jayantibhai Mistry, Jyoti Desai, Pri. Ashvin Patel, Paresh Adhavaryu and many others are my close friends, and we meet at least once a month in book review lectures.

Yes, keep on buying or borrowing (not to return) or even stealing the books and make a big treasure - Your Library!

Certainly, you will need to take care of yourself and the books you possess.

Good luck!

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  2. Impressive collection and interests. I too keep myself surrounded by books.

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