My Hobby: Reading — Class 8 English (Samacheer Kalvi)
TN State Board (Samacheer Kalvi) Class 8 English, Poem 2, by Arunachalam Chandrashekharan (2010). A celebration of reading as a life-changing hobby.
1. About the poem
My Hobby: Reading was written in 2010 by Arunachalam Chandrashekharan, a professional in library and information sciences. His long association with books inspired this poem on reading as a great hobby.
2. Summary
The poet declares at once that reading is his hobby. Reading helps him grow and cultivate good thoughts, and those thoughts carry him not only to nearby places but also to remote and far-off lands.
He compares his mind to a room: reading keeps the doors of his mind half-open and unlocked — open enough to let in intelligent, logical reasoning, but guarded against the entry of wrong and harmful things. Reading also teaches him to take happiness and sorrow in the same spirit — to laugh in happy times and to let out grief in painful times. He believes that if all children read, they could build a dynamic society.
3. Theme
The theme is the value of the reading habit — how reading expands the mind, shapes good character and builds a better society.
4. Poetic devices
- Rhyme: the poem rhymes at alternate line-endings, with pairs such as reading–breeding, far–ajar, cry–fly and read–succeed.
- Metaphor: the poet's mind is compared to a room with doors that can be kept open or shut.
5. Glossary
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| hobby | a favourite free-time activity |
| cultivate | to develop / grow |
| ajar | slightly open |
| dynamic | full of energy and progress |
| reasoning | logical thinking |
6. Book-back questions (Samacheer Kalvi)
A. Read and answer
- What is the poet's hobby? — Reading.
- How does reading help the poet? — It helps him grow and cultivate good thoughts.
- To what does the poet compare his mind? — To a room with doors.
- What can children build if they all read? — A dynamic society.
- What does reading teach the poet about happiness and sorrow? — To take both in the same spirit — to laugh in joy and release grief in sorrow.
B. Appreciation 6. Pick out two pairs of rhyming words. — reading–breeding, far–ajar (also cry–fly, read–succeed). 7. Why does the poet keep the doors of his mind "half-open"? — To let in good reasoning while keeping out wrong things.
7. Common mistakes
- Mistake: Naming the wrong poet. Fix: The poet is Arunachalam Chandrashekharan (2010).
- Mistake: Taking "doors of the mind" literally. Fix: It is a metaphor — reading filters good thoughts in and bad ones out.
- Mistake: Missing the social message. Fix: If all children read, they can build a dynamic society.
8. Quick revision
- Poem 2 · My Hobby: Reading by Arunachalam Chandrashekharan (2010).
- Theme: the value of the reading habit for the mind, character and society.
- Reading grows good thoughts, carries the mind near and far, and keeps the "doors of the mind" half-open.
- It teaches calm in both joy and sorrow; if all children read, they build a dynamic society.
- Rhyme at alternate lines: reading–breeding, far–ajar, cry–fly, read–succeed.
