Books are our windows to the world, indeed. A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies.

Reading transports us to worlds unknown, and enables us to go to places that don’t even exist. And once the habit of reading grows in a person, it seldom dies. Every book – fiction or non-fiction, an autobiography or a graphic novel, leaves an indelible mark on the reader’s mind. When we read a book, we sometimes relate with its characters who in some way or the other seem to be like one of us. The more we read, the more we can imagine and analyse.

According to new research, even six minutes of reading any book a day can be enough to reduce the stress levels by more than two thirds. It was found out that listening to music reduces stress levels by 61 percent, a cup of black tea or black coffee lowers them by 54 percent and taking a long walk lowers them by 42 percent. But above all, reading for half an hour reduces stress by 68 percent.

Spend some time of a busy week in a bookstore. I do so despite how tied up I am in meetings and conferences. Books help us grow, and they nourish our soul. I quietly walk into a store, pull a book out of the shelf, sit in a corner and read. And I’ve never left a bookstore without buying a book, if not more than one.

Nowadays young people read less. Not all, but most of them. To brush your palm over the cover of a book, to smell its pages, and to flip through it is a different kind of happiness. If you commit a little time to reading every day for one month, you will feel the difference in your mind.  Your ability to concentrate, think, speak, write and solve problems will increase, and you will learn new skills and knowledge.

A Swedish proverb so rightly says, “In a good book the best is between the lines.”