Enid Blyton !!

Yesterday, I found all my old storybooks and novels stacked up in a huge cardboard box in the attic. The books mainly consisted of Enid Blyton's Famous Five, Secret Seven, Malory Towers, The Five Find Outers and The Adventurous Four series. The sight of these books brought back a floodgate of memories of my childhood where books played a vital role.

It all started when Dad got me the Famous Five book - "Five Go Down to the Sea". It was during the summer holidays after 5th standard exams and unable to handle my tantrums at home for more Tinkles and Amar Chithra Kathas, he got me this book thinking that it would keep me quiet and busy atleast for a month (Since this book did not have cartoons and had around 200 pages he assumed I would be slow in finishing it). But thanks to Enid Blyton's skilled writing and simple language, I was able to understand and appreciate the story plot and loved the characters in them. The book kept me hooked and I finished the book in 2 days much to the dismay of my parents.

After reading this book, my parents dreaded taking me to any book store or mall or infact any place which had a bookstore in vicinity, because I always ended up with not less than 2 of Enid Blyton's books to buy. I still remember those days when I was oblivious to hunger, sleep and time when I started reading one of Enid's books. She used to bewitch her readers and take us into her world consisting of hot,buttery scones, lemonades, sandwiches, castles, treasure chests, picnics, dogs, friends, secret notes, maps, code words etc. Sigh ! Those were the days when you had no worries, no deadlines and you could just snuggle into a cozy corner and forget the world around you !

Thanks to you Enid, my dormant bookworm gene got triggered on and Thanks for sharing your world with us ! Thanks for making me a bookworm and for being an integral part of my childhood !