For Aditi Desai, books have served as a way to stay grounded and make new friends.
Books have always been my best friends. Since I was a young kid, growing up in Florida, my Dada (which means grandfather in Gujarati) instilled a love of reading in me that never died. Even after he passed away, I soon returned to my literary friends in full force. Growing up as one of very few Indian kids in my school, books were always there for me. When I was lonely, bored or sad, a book could always pick me up. The trips to the library with my Dada are some of my favorite memories.
When I first moved to California, at the age of 30, I turned to my friends in the pages once again after realizing how hard it would be to make friends. After trying meet up groups and joining activities I was interested in, like yoga and hiking, to hopefully find like-minded folks, I realized it was going to be harder than I thought to find a real community to connect to here.
So I turned to the community I always had, the community I could always rely on. Books. Whether audio, electronic or physical books, I always had one with me on my commute, at outings or at work, just in case those feelings of loneliness, boredom or sadness resurfaced. After nine years in the Bay Area, my books have never failed me, and in a pleasant turn of events, they brought me to a community of literature lovers in Oakland.
Through a volunteer opportunity at a local book store, I was able to not only meet but start to build community with like-minded folks with similar interests as me. Now, we not only talk about books, but we play tennis, practice yoga and support one another in our lives. It may have taken nearly a decade, but it’s great to know my books were not only my first friends, but they opened the door to a community here in Oakland. With a Perspective, I’m Aditi Desai.