Monday 19 August 2013

Harry Potter Festival - Post 1 : How I First met Him :)

Rennervate !

After some days of silence, the blog starts to speak again. This time it is Richa Singh, of The Philospher's Stone, who has cast the spell.

Let me cast some light into what I am talking about.

Lumos !!

Well, for all those who love/ hate/have something to say about the 'Boy who lived', here is a golden showcase - the Harry Potter Festival.
From 18th August to 25th, the world belongs to us - the Muggles  who would love to have the magic charms, who would love to reinforce our love for 'The Boy', and the others who will have nothing to do with him.
The details can be had here.

For me, the letter H means Harry. The Boy who Lived. Or the One who was Born to Live :)

That's how it has been ever since I met him.

The college where I graduated from had one of the best libraries in the University. And that was one place where I spent most of my free time. (Most, because I spent some time at the college Chapel too). There was sheer joy in browsing the long shelves filled with books , books and more books. We were allowed to take 3 books at a time for 3 student cards, and my quota was always full. I would make my friends borrow the books on their cards as well  and take them home, especially if it was a weekend.

It was on one such 'I-want-to-find-out-what-is-hidden-in-the-shelves' browsing session,that I met the Boy.
The catchy pink and purple cover of a book was pining for my attention ( arey yaar, someone has to , na ) and I pulled it from the shelf. And Voila! the bespectacled guy with a scar on his forehead stared back at me.

Funnily enough, that was the library copy of the Prisoner of Azkaban.
Not a good way to begin, given the fact that there were two predecessors to this one, which contained a major portion of information about Harry's past.
But I read it at home in one go.
And this left me yearning for more and more. I couldn't wait to read the first two, I couldn't wait to know what happened next. I wanted to know when Harry would be victorious over the Dark Lord..... There was so much to learn about him, so much to love him for, so much to sympathise and empathise with him....

All my next visits to the Library were fraught with attempts to track the first two books in the series, before laying my hands on the fourth one. One whole week, many visits, a booking for the books, a few messengers to the library to find out if the books were there, a few futile attempts to track down the current borrowers ( only because the staff were tired  of my pursuit and wouldn't tell me :( ) and will-get-them-when-its-time-for-me-to kind of resigned attitude later, I got them.

Glee !! I remember feeling the euphoria....it was as good as seeing him alive !!

For the next few days, I lived with him....I slept with the book in my hands, I looked at his picture the first thing in the morning, I carried it wherever I could, in the bus, on the way to College, on the dining table ( much to my mom's and babuji's confusion- why is she so obsessed !!;) )............

I read his story from cover to cover and would have begun again, had it not been for the fact that I had to return the books to the Library so that some other Harry fan would know the joy that I knew !

I got the rest of the books in chronological order as and when they were released.....and the journey with him was beyond compare.... I could feel his pain as mine, I could relate to him in many a circumstance, and his emotions were mine, as he stood watching his kids depart in the train to the world that had made him what he was !!

I am sure this is the case with many readers of the series. We all have our unique ways that connect us to Harry.

Harry, we love you ! :)

What does being a Harry Potter fan mean to me .... more about that tomorrow :)

This post is written as a part of the Harry Potter Festival.
Logo Courtesy :The Philospher's Stone







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