Reading & Writing: Beyond Pages and Pens

We often assume that reading many books automatically makes someone “well‑read.” But quantity is only an illusion of wisdom. True reading begins after the book is closed. Being widely read and being well‑read are not the same. Anyone can consume hundreds of pages, but unless the mind assimilates, questions, reflects, and transforms that knowledge into personal insight, reading remains just another pastime—like scrolling or gaming. The respect we give to people who read a lot is really respect for those who have grown through their reading, not merely turned pages. Intellectual development is an inner process. It happens quietly, in the psyche, long after the words on the page have faded. Where Does a Story Really Exist? A fascinating question arises here: Does a story live in the writer’s mind, the reader’s mind, or in the interaction between the two? Kafka may not have fully understood the labyrinth he created in The Trial or The Castle. Anand, in മരുഭൂമികൾ ഉണ്ടാകുന്നത്, may not have consciously intended every layer his readers now interpret. A story is like sweetness—is it in the sugar, on the tongue, or in the chemical reaction connecting both? Writing exists in the same mysterious space. A text is never a static object; it evolves every time a new mind touches it. Writing as Catharsis For many writers, writing isn’t an act of control—it’s an act of release. Stories take shape on their own, demanding to be expressed so the writer can find relief. Writing becomes catharsis, a cleansing of emotion and thought. The writer pours out what the psyche struggles to contain. In this sense, writing is not merely a craft. It is therapy, discovery, and confession rolled into one. The writer doesn’t always know the depths of what they reveal. Sometimes the story knows more than the storyteller. Reading & Writing: Two Halves of the Same Inner Journey Reading nourishes the mind; writing frees it. Reading expands our inner landscape; writing maps it. Reading exposes us to worlds; writing reveals our own. But both require the same essential ingredient: awareness. Without awareness, reading becomes consumption. Without awareness, writing becomes noise. With awareness, both become tools for intellectual and emotional evolution. Conclusion A book doesn’t make you well‑read. A pen doesn’t make you a writer. It is the inner work—the analysing, the feeling, the engaging with ideas, the catharsis—that transforms both reading and writing into meaningful acts. The magic of literature happens between minds. Between writer and reader. Between thought and emotion. Between pages and inner worlds. And in that space, we don’t just read or write—we grow.