A Potterhead

Courtesy-Google

I was succumbed to the charm of Harry Potter in my middle 20s. I have heard a great deal about these books, but somehow I was dismissing the thought to read it mainly because it falls under the category of Children's book. And I'm not a very patient person to read one book in a series and sit and wait for the rest to release. Not knowing what happens next in a book or a movie, basically in a story almost kills me. It is not a torture I subject myself to very often. However, one fine day, I went to a book store and brought all the 7 books in a jiffy. Those were E-commerce-free days. Now, I order all my books either on Flipkart or Amazon. It has been ages since I have visited a book store. I digress.

TBNH (Then-Boyfriend-Now-Hubby) was away in another city for his masters. I was terribly lonely, unhappy, depressed, and miserable. It took me precisely 3 pages to get hooked and from that moment no turning back. I was missing TBNH very badly, yet, I was happy, cheerful, bright, back to my normal self, a happy soul.

I am not going to discuss story or characters here. It is next to impossible. Harry Potter is primarily a story of good versus evil. It is of the fantasy genre with vivid and rich imagination, which made us to believe in the parallel world of magic. It taught us about friendship, love, solidarity, courage, compassion, sacrifice, humanity, kindness, more importantly life. One can easily get connected to each and every characters. It is not only about Harry, Hermione, or Ron, though it chronicles their life at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. None, not a single character is flawless. They all have their strengths and shortcomings. I am sure everyone who read the book can relate to at least one character, that is the beauty of it. We all have experienced the excitement of new academic year, school rivalries, fear and tension of exams, results, love-hate relationships with teacher, caught in mischievous act, being punished for it, standing up for our friends against all odds. Probably the only uncommon thing would be Lord Voldemort (You-Know-Who or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named) or may be we all did have a Voldemort, not of that magnitude of course.

I genuinely wished for a world like that, where I can be a witch. I mostly relate myself to Hermione, which I'm sure billion others out there would do too. The one thing I constantly get teased by hubby "Ms. Know-It-All just like her. My favourite charm is "Expecto Patronum" and my patronus is always "peacock". And how I wish for "Accio". It has been almost 8 years since I read them, but still fresh in my memory. I have equally enjoyed the Harry Potter movies. I have written a essay about Potter in my interview for current job. How cocky is that? I can talk to a fellow Potter fan hours together. That easy bond only a muggle would understand. Even though I have now moved to much advanced fantasy like "Songs of Ice and Fire", Harry Potter will be my first love in the fantasy genre. It has made me definitely a better human being, and an upright and righteous person. It has something to cater to all age groups, that is why it is such a global phenomenon.

J.K. Rowling is a wonderful writer. She created a parallel world of wizards and witches, which is absurd and crazy, but convincing and believable nonetheless. I know she has written four more bestselling novels under the pseudonym, Robert Galbraith. Somehow, I am hesitant to pick those books for the fear of breaking the magic spell. I know I will do this gradually and will come to love her other works too, until then let me bask in the Potter memory.

West-End stage play called Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is going to be performed on 30th July, 2016 in Palace Theatre London, which is Harry's Birthday of course. The play is written by Jack Thorne, based on an orignial new story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne, and John Tiffany. If wishes were horses....