The library in my city was in a basement and when I first went there, I was in class 6; a strange smell came to me. Later on, this smell became the reference to all my beautiful memories attached with the joyous times related with the books. In cold winter days, when I started stepping down the stairs and entered the library, a heater was lit in the centre and the humidity in the air scattered this smell even more to the different corners of the library.

The joy that is associated with the checking of books by reading its flap or preface is the most joyful labor that never makes one feel tired. At times it happened that I kept reading the flaps or preface of books and when I wanted to select a book, my eye slipped and stuck on another that seemed to be more interesting and I put the first book in the shelf and picked up another and in this way, 2 to 3 hours passed by and when I went to the in-charge with the books to be issued, he opened his mouth wide with surprise and asked, "Are you still there? Where were you for so long? I thought you had taken the book and left?" and I just smiled at this.

I never felt exhausted by walking slowly among innumerable cupboards filled with books, taking the books and reading some pages of them while standing and then moving from one cupboard to another. Utter silence of library that seemed to have immersed deep into the air of it, had a special joyful sound to listen and enjoy. This silent and ever-present symphony was at times disturbed by the coughing of a member or by the sound produced by the opening and closing of a cupboard or when a member reading a book dropped it down on the floor.

Once there were my holidays and in one of the cupboards, I came along a number of books of detection and suspense. As I was permitted to borrow a single book at a time, I was very disappointed for not being able to have got 2 to 3 of these interesting books. I came home, quickly finished the book and went to library again in afternoon. Librarian smiled at me and issued the second book.

This one I finished till 5 and when I went again to get a book to read at night, librarian was coming out and had locked the library. Seeing me for the third time in the same day, he smiled and said, "Now what have you come for?" I told him that I had finished the book and now I had nothing to read at night. He shook his head, opened the library and asked me to bring 3 books of my choice. As I came out with my favorite books, he locked the library again and asked me to get the entry of books when I returned them.

Right at the entrance, there was a verse written and displayed which could have been translated like this, "A very noble and sacred aim is served here and fate of the human race is changed here".
I always feel that in the sheer silence of libraries, a war is going between the good and evil. Books are on the side of good and virtue while all the other evil desires and plots are on their opposite, even then books seem to be more powerful than all of them altogether.

But this war is not fought with hatred, violence or bad-temper rather this war is fought with tools of logic, mental nourishment, dialogue and love and persuasion. The war by the side of books is always fought silently.

Evil forces shed blood, put the houses on fire, destroy the crops, kill the innocent and deprive people of their rights and voices and always come up with more vicious and malignant plots but books do their works silently.

This silence resembles to the silence prevalent in the atmosphere of libraries where minds and hearts are convinced, where logic captures the states of understanding, where persuasion puts the people in action and where love comes as the most powerful tool to make permanent imprints on the minds of people as it is said that capturing and controlling one's body might be easy but it is very difficult to capture and control the thoughts and understanding of people.

This difficult task is easily achieved by the books coming out of the kingdom of libraries. People never come to know and we see that books have done their job and have changed the entire nation and every single mind and soul present in it.

Vicious forces came up with the activities that were hazardous and malicious both to the body and heart under the pretext of entertainment. Smoking, gambling, drinking, and many more were promoted with so many numerous tools but books did nullify their impact only with the holy and blessed words written in them. It was at the same time simple, easily accessible and easily adoring to the mind and body. Those who have fallen in love with the books have never come out of its strong, magical spell.

Many of the figures who rose to the peaks of humility, who impressed millions by their characters, who left lasting impressions on the minds of many others, who changed the fate of their nations and who set new standards of living; both physically and spiritually, regard the books as their best teacher. In fact, humanity is impressed from them but in fact indebted to the books for this favor.

Books never betrayed anyone. They always acted as a candle without which we could have never become able to find our way towards the eternal destiny of contentment and prosperity.

This old world has witnessed a lot many gifted scholars who mesmerized the people of their time with their inspirational speeches, who worked day and night and left hundreds of books, who squeezed their mental capabilities and left with us the thoughts that we could have never comprehended with our limited efforts and abilities, who had such keen observation that they discovered the secrets hidden in the corners of universe and found in the varying nature of human beings, and who shared such experiences that we could have had difficult times had we tried to acquire their experience by the practical endeavor of our own.

These treasures are no doubt irreplaceable and incomparable but we again become indebted to the books that preserved and transferred them to us after a number of centuries and hopefully, these good things would reach to our generations to follow.

I wonder how a society can ignore the importance of books and libraries and dream of surviving with the essence of success, prosperity and humanity.