Anne Lovers Around The World! Part 8: Tejaswini
If there is one positive thing that the pandemic has done to me, it is introducing me to Anne of Green Gables.
Hello! I am Tejaswini from Chennai, India. I am a college student, a crazy bibliophile, and an aspiring writer. Many people have read Anne of Green Gables in their childhood. But I only read it a couple of months ago and it has changed my life so much.
Last year has been tough on everyone. I just finished school last august and I had so many great ideas on what I was going to do in college. I was so excited about everything but all my plans were ruined due to the pandemic. I couldn’t go to the college I wanted. I ended up in a course which I had never intended to take in the first place. I was so devastated. It was really hard for me to settle into college and make friends as my interests were vastly different from them. It was also a very competitive environment and I had no idea how I would ever fit in. Above all, I was going through a writer’s block which sucked because at that point, writing was my only refuge from all the stress.
That was when I came across the show Anne with an E on Netflix and I started watching it with my mother as a stressbuster. After seeing my love for the story, my mother decided to buy me the book. Even though I had a kindle, I waited for the physical book as I wanted a perfect reading experience and I was so excited when I received it as a birthday present.
For the next few days, I took the book with me wherever I went. I read each page with reverence and love. Even though I read only fantasy books mostly, I loved Anne of Green Gables more than anything else I’ve ever read. It is great how this book has a quote for every situation in life.
The main reason why I love Anne of Green Gables is my resemblance to Anne. I am exactly like her – imaginative, daydreamer, writer. There was a time I used to feel bad about being weird and strange. I used to feel this way until I read Anne of Green Gables. Looking at the world through Anne’s eyes was beautiful. I fell in love with her character, her unique imaginations, her optimistic world view and her fierce loyalty to the people she loves. As I fell in love with the book, I started loving and believing in myself. I became more confident.
“It's been my experience that you can nearly always enjoy things if you make up your mind firmly that you will.”
Looking at Anne sacrificing her dreams to go to a big college and still stay happy made me realize that I can achieve my dreams even though all my previous plans for college had changed. I found a new strength that got me through all my challenges. As I became more confident, I made new friends and I also got the courage to pursue my dreams.
- M. Montgomery’s writing is so magical. It is special because it portrays the simplest of the things in the most beautiful and captivating manner. This book showed me the real beauty of nature. After reading it, whenever I looked at a tree or a field, I would really look at it – see the beautiful colours, the bright landscape, the sunlight, the fresh air; I could feel all these things and they were the most beautiful things I’ve ever felt before. I noticed the strange ways in which nature calms the human mind. It taught me to appreciate what I have and the world I live in.
“Dear old world', she murmured, 'you are very lovely, and I am glad to be alive in you.”
Through all these wonderful experiences, I found back my will and desire to write. There is something about Montgomery’s writing and Anne that leaves me dazzled and inspired to achieve my dreams and ambitions.
“Oh, it's delightful to have ambitions. I'm so glad I have such a lot. And there never seems to be any end to them-- that's the best of it. Just as soon as you attain one ambition you see another one glittering higher up still. It does make life so interesting.”
It is my lifelong dream to visit Prince Edward Island someday and also buy the first edition book. It would be lovely to visit the place that inspired this book and changed my life. I will forever be thankful to L. M. Montgomery for writing this splendid book. I can’t wait to read the rest of the books in the series and see our beloved Anne grow. She will forever be a part of my life.
“Isn't it splendid to think of all the things there are to find out about? It just makes me feel glad to be alive--it's such an interesting world. It wouldn't be half so interesting if we know all about everything, would it? There'd be no scope for imagination then, would there?
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