MY ENCOUNTER WITH MY FIRST NOVEL..........THE FIRST ONE I READ

I was sitting squeezed in an auto rickshaw,wid my mum and my brother on my either side. As we were crossing Panchsheel I looked at the smooth roads and took pride in being a Delhiite. A little further our auto stopped at the red light. Ssome beggars rushed towards us .I felt my pride flush down the toilet.They passed us one by one giving us a go-to-hell look,as we were in no mood to promote beggary.They went on to try their luck with others,especially female drivers who are comparatively more emotional and give in to their requests. the last one coming to us was a kid selling pirated copies of novels.we shook our heads gesturing him to move on.......but he stood there. I looked at him and somehow my eyes fell on one of the books he was holding......THE DA VINCI CODE.
I had heard about it a lot, a rather controversial international bestseller. I whispered into my brother's ears that i wanted it.my mum heard me and asked the kid its price.She bargained......bargained........bargained and bargained.And finally mu mum and the kid agreed to rs40.As soon as my brother paid him ,the lights turned green and the auto moved on........and i held THE DA VINCI CODE in my hands.
Yes it was my first,blame it to my school library's poor collection. I was never fond of reading though.i seldom issued books,that to reference books,.......from that average library of ours......which mainly had books meant for kids......i didnt read them when i was a kid though.......i never felt like reading them....i didnt even care to look at the books we had .Still i know it was a poor collection .......my instinct told me.
forget my school library....i was holding my first novel ....THE DA VINCI CODE......the critically acclaimed international bestseller......a pirated copy though.....who cares? It was my first novel!
I was very excited about it........so excited that i didnt read it for a few days. I kept staring at the brown cover and said to myself that it was my first novel, as if my 'self' didnt know that.
one fine day i started reading it.it talked about paintings,codes,symbolism,cryptography,pagan culture,christianity,priory of sion,secrets ..........beyond my imagination and beyond my comprehension. I had my pocket dictionary accompanyiong me me all the time through through my journey of completing my first novel.We walked hand in hand through the entire treacherous path ,like soulmates. my parents almost abandoned me for keeping my eyes glued to my first novel...THE DA VINCI CODE. But my dictionary was there with me through thick and thin.
One day i finally finished it.......yes i finished it. I was excited,surprised and proud of myself! It was an inexplicable feeling.I finished it and i understood it and i could tell the world that i loved it! Hats off to Dan Brown! But somewhere deep inside my heart i was sad.....sad because i had finished it! The exhiliratingly brainy thriller ended! What the hell! I didnt intend to stop my pulse racing like a F1 car. I felt sad, dejected.It was an inexplicable feeling,again. What should i do to stop feeling this inexplicable feeling. Suddenly a brilliant idea knocked at the closed and doublelocked door of my mind.Yes.........brilliant.....superb.......And the idea worth a million dollars was ..........i'll read another book! Another brain teasing story. How about Dan Brown's DECEPTION POINT???? Afterall he's the best! How did i know that?? Valid question. As i just finished reading my first novel,and Dan Brown was the only author whose work i read, it was too early for me to rate him the best. But i knew he was the best........my instinct told me!