I love fairy tales. I have always loved them even though my friends used to make fun of me about this. Fairy tales always make me immensely happy- they tell me that yes good things do happen to good people even though late at times. They tell me about honesty, sincerity and goodness that is not always advertised.

Cinderella, Snow white and the seven Dwarfs, Beauty and the Beast, The frog and the Princess, Hansel and Gratel- they are all extremely amazing stories. I loved reading them. They all have deep messages inside them. I wonder why they are often dismissed as children stories. They must be surely read by adults.

I felt happy when the shoe fitted only Cinderella and she got her prince charming, I felt happy when the dwarfs took care of snow white, I felt extremely sad when little Hansel and Gratel were lost and were in the clutches of the witch. It makes me shudder to think of two little kids far away from their home and parents.

I always made it a point to introduce my kids to this amazing world of stories. When they were small, my wife would read out the stories to all of us. Even today, my kids ask me about the stories and I feel very happy.

Me and my wife try and encourage our kids to read more. They have now started getting books from the library. Every night, we have one hour of reading time when we all sit down and read. It can be anything- books, comics, newspaper. But we all read something. I like the quiet silence when we are all busy reading. I feel very peaceful.

If my kids come across a word about which they don’t know- they ask us. Very often we know the meaning of words but sometimes me and my wife find it difficult to explain the correct meaning. Therefore, we have made a rule to keep a dictionary always with us. We look for meanings in it and the problem gets solved then and there.

We all look forward to our reading time. Let me take your leave now. It is getting late. Please take care. Bye.

The ‘common man’ was pleased to know that his son got an ‘A’ grade for writing an article on his favourite comic characters. It made him really happy. He hopes that his kids would grow up to visit the innumerable worlds penned by authors all over the world.