P for paper

Call me old fashioned but I would rather read a book made of paper held in my hand than read the same content on a tablet or kindle. The feeling of holding the page between your fingers as you read the book, pausing a while before flipping it as you continue your read is something that is out of the world. If it is a new book, the paper feels very smooth and somewhat crisp and in case of a book that has passed through many hands, the paper feels different, worn out in a way. There is a distinct smell of new books and a typical moist odor when the book has been re-read umpteen times. In case of e-books, this sense of smell and touch is missing and makes the reading experience a tad incomplete. 

Same goes with writing, the satisfaction I get when I scribble on paper with a pen or pencil in my hand is absent when I type the same on my laptop or cellphone. Not that I have a beautiful handwriting or anything, my writing is fairly neat and legible. It is just that it feels more complete when you feel the paper while you put down your thoughts. Yes, I know and agree that we need to minimize wastage of paper for ecological reasons. I only hope that the future generations too get a chance to savor the experience of reading from paper they can feel and writing on it with a pen in their hand. Technology and time have revolutionized  a great many things and simplified life, but at the same time they have taken away simple pleasures and added invisible complexities in our everyday existence.

This post is shared with April A-Z blogging challenge for alphabet P