I’ve never been a good student, and honestly, I still don’t try to be one. But in the last two or three years, I’ve started reading books. I read pretty slowly — I need time to let things sink in. And the book has to resonate with me. If it doesn’t, I just drop it. I keep it in the back of my mind for some other day when maybe it will make sense. That’s basically how I read, in my own weird way.

Now about this word: study. I’ve never liked it. Maybe my subconscious links it straight to school — those days of studying only because you needed marks, or because your parents pressured you, or because apparently it will “secure your future.”

I know studying matters for a career, especially if you’re not from a rich background. I’m not arguing against that. But the neurological impact the word creates early on in our minds… that part is scary. At least in Indian society, “study” becomes more like a fear-trigger: grades, competition, parents’ social status, the tension about the future — all bundled into one word.

What I’ve realized is that learning out of curiosity feels completely different. When you have a question and you actually want the answer, the whole process becomes healthy. Your brain handles it better. It doesn’t create that heaviness or that fear. And it definitely doesn’t make you hate reading or the word “study.”

Basically, learning with curiosity feels like the version of studying that doesn’t damage you.