It was year 1996. I was passing through a very challenging phase of my life. I had just got a new job in a multinational company, after a prolong unemployment of around 18 months. My cash reserves were depleting faster than my patience. Hence, the job I had on hand was extremely important for me to keep. But, that was easier said than done, because the company had introduced a new communication technology to the Indian market. At the same time, mobile telephony was also being introduced and consumers were preferring mobiles over my company’s radio communication. In short, selling was tough in a highly competitive market. I was losing sleep over the fact that, if I could not achieve my targets, I may be fired and…..
I couldn’t afford even thoughts of the worse to happen with me. And I came across a book, ‘How I raised myself from failure to success in selling?’ by Frank Bettger. It just cost Rs. 24/- but that investment changed my life! The book contained immensely useful tips on selling skills which carved out the best salesman in me. Today, I have made good progress in life with very successful career in same company and thereafter and enough reserves to sail me through my rest of the life, but whenever I look at the well preserved book of Frank, my head bows down with gratitude. From this experience, whenever I have an occasion requiring me to gift someone, I usually chose a good book, particularly if the recipient is very close to my heart and he is young in age.
There is age old saying. ‘Book is a gift, which remains with the recipient for life’. The festival season is round the corner, with Diwali few days away followed by Christmas. Families and friends across the country will spend millions in buying gifts for their loved ones. Each one of you also must have kept aside a substantial budget to buy gifts for your near and dear ones. Can I suggest you to pause for some time? And think what gifts you would choose for your dear ones. Sweets and chocolates, clothes, or may be games.
This season, can you think of keeping aside at least 20 – 30 % of your total budget to buy some good books and gift them to your dear ones? One thing is sure, of all the gifts you would shower on your loved ones, the impact of a good book will live with them for the longer period of time, may be for the entire life. While reading a book, as the reader builds the story in one’s mind, it has proven to immensely develop imaginative capabilities among readers. The other benefits of reading a good book are many;
- It offers a mental stimulation.
- Helps in character building
- Helps reduce stress.
- Improves reader’s knowledge.
- Expansion of the vocabulary.
- Memory improvement.
- Stronger Analytical skills.
- Improved focus and concentration, particularly helpful to students.
- Better writing skills.
- Entertainment
- And it also helps address common complaint of today’s youth, boredom.
If you analyse closely, hardly any other category of gift has got so many advantages.
Of course, there is one perceived problem to the whole suggestion. What if you gift a book and the recipient doesn’t like it or doesn’t read it? Well that is true for all the gifts, but to overcome above problem, you must select the book carefully keeping in mind the age profile and interest subjects of the recipient. After all, the effects of a good book go much beyond the festival times. So why wait? Go ahead and choose your gift right away.