A DOSE of books? No.

When you enter a library or a bookstore, there's always a huge section of ''Self-help Books''. With the number of books piled up it's plain evident how many people are into reading self-help books. Once a person gets over the fiction phase they do turn to explore the self-help area, too. When I was young, not very young but let's just say about 2-3 years ago, I thought self help books were medication. I thought that one could just pick up a book about being happy, read it, memorise the steps and then be happy for the rest of his life. Okay, now I feel silly thinking about it. But that's alright, I guess. They just sound like that. I mean, you know how they show in movies that when you go to a psychologist who is expensive he gives you a book as the first step! So that just planted various ideas in my mind and I joined the dots. But then think about it. Reading a book can't solve your problems just like praying to God a day before your result won't solve your problems either! So, continuing the example of my pea-brain-on-work, driven by the craze of watching my dad read such books, once in a bookstore, I picked up 'Eat Pray Love' by Elizabeth Gilbert. It's not exactly a self help book but it follows the same footsteps, somewhat. So I read the back cover, and Oh. My. God. I was awe-inspired. I mean, it seemed wonderful. A woman discovering herself and all. So fascinating! I bought the book, obviously. I was ecstatic. So I opened the book, and the most hilarious thing happened, I closed it and it went back on my bookshelf in the next 5 days. The reason being, I GOT BORED. And never again did I touch that book. Never. I felt doomed in the field of literature. I felt like I was incapable of understanding the deep essence of life and the way out of the maze which was printed in the book. I felt like if I ever landed in a real problem ahead in life I would never be able to sort it out and eventually lose all hope. Why, because I could not decipher a self-help book.
A week ago, though I went back to that book. I wouldn't say why because it's not relevant here. I just opened it and read the first chapter with a light thought of wanting to READ the book, not to sort out any problem but to simply read whatever was present. And  I did, and this time, it's not boring. In fact, I am finally getting my concept cleared about what self-help books really are. They are not a bunch of solutions to math problems that help you unravel the spiral of your confusion and deranged life. They are just books that explain. They simply make you understand. The book that I wrote today, how the hell can it really solve your problem? I am not from 'Phil of the Future', am I? So when you read these books you basically just read the basic. It's like learning 2+2=4 all over again, except that this time you will learn it as (1+1)+(1+1)=4. That simple. When I read 'Eat Pray Love', it's not like all my worries got sorted and suddenly I was aware of the map of my life lying right across the table ready to be unmasked. While reading the book, I learnt the basics of everything. Because all of us, if we can breathe the same air, drink the same water, function with the help of same body parts, then we can also learn the same lessons, right? Doesn't mean that what I read today in that book has to help me today. It might help me later or maybe never. But it will always add a drop in the ocean.