Bookworm of Silverfish
[Books]
KUALA LUMPUR: Raman Krishnan was a civil engineer for 25 years before his true love compelled him to leave the profession.
Raman has had a lifelong love affair with books and gave up engineering to become the proprietor of a small but well-known bookshop in Bangsar.
Silverfish Books opened five years ago and has steadily gained a loyal following among bookworms in and around the city
Raman, who personally selects the titles at his bookshop, has no regrets about his decision.
"As far back as I can remember I have loved to read. It was almost a cultural thing because I come from a family of readers," he explained.
Raman's love for books is evident even in the way he holds them.
It was his father who taught him to respect the value of books and this included a lesson on how to handle one.
"My father showed me how to turn the pages which is something I do until today," he said.
The correct method, explained Raman, is to gently lift the very edge of a page to ensure that pages remain crisp and smooth.
The avid reader recalled his student days when owning a new book was a luxury and second-hand bookstores were his haunt.
"In those days you could buy books for just 10 cents from second-hand stores," he said.
Raman and some of his school friends used to exchange books among each other in order to read more without having to spend extra.
"It was almost like a competition among us to see who could read more books although now it all sort of sounds nerdy," he said with a smile.
At an early age Raman began reading classics such as King Arthur, Black Beauty and Heidi and later moved on to adventure and mystery stories.
These days, he reads just about anything – from religion and philosophy to literature and geography.
But how does he choose the book he wants to read from the vast array at the store?
"I always judge a book by the cover," he said with a laugh.
"If the cover looks interesting, I'll pick it up otherwise I won’t even look at it."
The one-time engineer confided that it was perfectly normal for him to read at least three different titles at any given time.
"Right now I'm reading two books at the shop and I have one at home," he said.
When asked about the number of books that he has gone through in his lifetime, the normally-articulate Raman had to pause for a moment.
"I cannot even tell you how many – well into the thousands," he said.
Source: The Star
KUALA LUMPUR: Raman Krishnan was a civil engineer for 25 years before his true love compelled him to leave the profession.
Raman has had a lifelong love affair with books and gave up engineering to become the proprietor of a small but well-known bookshop in Bangsar.
Silverfish Books opened five years ago and has steadily gained a loyal following among bookworms in and around the city
Raman, who personally selects the titles at his bookshop, has no regrets about his decision.
"As far back as I can remember I have loved to read. It was almost a cultural thing because I come from a family of readers," he explained.
Raman's love for books is evident even in the way he holds them.
It was his father who taught him to respect the value of books and this included a lesson on how to handle one.
"My father showed me how to turn the pages which is something I do until today," he said.
The correct method, explained Raman, is to gently lift the very edge of a page to ensure that pages remain crisp and smooth.
The avid reader recalled his student days when owning a new book was a luxury and second-hand bookstores were his haunt.
"In those days you could buy books for just 10 cents from second-hand stores," he said.
Raman and some of his school friends used to exchange books among each other in order to read more without having to spend extra.
"It was almost like a competition among us to see who could read more books although now it all sort of sounds nerdy," he said with a smile.
At an early age Raman began reading classics such as King Arthur, Black Beauty and Heidi and later moved on to adventure and mystery stories.
These days, he reads just about anything – from religion and philosophy to literature and geography.
But how does he choose the book he wants to read from the vast array at the store?
"I always judge a book by the cover," he said with a laugh.
"If the cover looks interesting, I'll pick it up otherwise I won’t even look at it."
The one-time engineer confided that it was perfectly normal for him to read at least three different titles at any given time.
"Right now I'm reading two books at the shop and I have one at home," he said.
When asked about the number of books that he has gone through in his lifetime, the normally-articulate Raman had to pause for a moment.
"I cannot even tell you how many – well into the thousands," he said.
Source: The Star
posted by 9T9 at
4:22 pm
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