Developing an interest in anything happens later; first comes the introduction. But when? And how? If your answer to the former is middle school or later, chances are you also remember the how. But if you don't remember when, chances are you can't really say how either. Literature is no exception. I guess it is reasonably safe to assume that you don't develop an interest in it before you actually start enjoying the act of reading, which you can't do unless you learn to read. Remember when that happened? Google says 6 or 7, with some prodigies starting as early as 4 or 5; my memory fails me. I do, however, vaguely recall some early struggles with letters and numbers, especially when it came to writing them. Did I write a couple of them backwards or as mirror images? Does that mean I was mildly dyslexic? Uh oh, can of worms, can of worms, keep it shut, keep it shut (but note to self - dig out old notebooks).
In any case, the two - knowledge of writing and a love of reading - aren't necessarily related. Sure, you need to know to read before you learn to write (otherwise aren't you simply copying shapes without understanding what those shapes mean? Side note - this probably explains the occasional mixing up of b and d and p and q, as well as s and 5, although it doesn't account for Hidni instead of Hindi). Technically, though, you could go from learning to read to loving literature without ever learning to write. And while that's unlikely, it isn't uncommon to encounter people for whom reading's a passion but writing's a chore, or vice versa. In any case, there's no fixed sequence - after you learn to read, the rest can happen in any order (or not at all).
Long story short, if you don't recall when or how, it was probably a series of events between you learning to read and you being aware of your interest in literature. Me, I can recall not being interested in literature for the longest time. This despite the best efforts of baba (which in Bangla only means dad) as well as ma, although it was always acknowledged in our home that baba was the reader. Like most of my earliest crystal clear, chronologically correct memories, this one too is from February 1996. But instead of relying solely on my memory (which is possibly failing - early onset of some neurodegenerative disease, perhaps?), I'm also going to utilise the evidence I found scattered around the house (and which I alluded to in my previous post). Yes, I'm going to.
In any case, the two - knowledge of writing and a love of reading - aren't necessarily related. Sure, you need to know to read before you learn to write (otherwise aren't you simply copying shapes without understanding what those shapes mean? Side note - this probably explains the occasional mixing up of b and d and p and q, as well as s and 5, although it doesn't account for Hidni instead of Hindi). Technically, though, you could go from learning to read to loving literature without ever learning to write. And while that's unlikely, it isn't uncommon to encounter people for whom reading's a passion but writing's a chore, or vice versa. In any case, there's no fixed sequence - after you learn to read, the rest can happen in any order (or not at all).
Long story short, if you don't recall when or how, it was probably a series of events between you learning to read and you being aware of your interest in literature. Me, I can recall not being interested in literature for the longest time. This despite the best efforts of baba (which in Bangla only means dad) as well as ma, although it was always acknowledged in our home that baba was the reader. Like most of my earliest crystal clear, chronologically correct memories, this one too is from February 1996. But instead of relying solely on my memory (which is possibly failing - early onset of some neurodegenerative disease, perhaps?), I'm also going to utilise the evidence I found scattered around the house (and which I alluded to in my previous post). Yes, I'm going to.
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