The Golden Treasury

On a recent visit to 'Crossword' I chanced to come across a popular book of poems, which is now reprinted and accessible to many more than before. Yes, it's "The Golden Treasury' that I am referring to. There is something special about "The Golden Treasury", a collection of poems selected by Francis Turner Palgrave. I used to pride myself for having a copy, which was unique and not one you would come across today; a dark blue leather-bound small book that my dear mother had won as a prize for English and History when she was in the eighth standard. The date on the first page with a 'prize-awarded to' label goes back to 6th December 1933.

I loved this book that was one of a wonderful collection of many books that belonged to my parents; treasured books that they owned as children, and carefully preserved for later generations to read; books that we as children immensely enjoyed reading in our school days. There was this nice wooden cupboard with a glass front that was like a treasure trove during the summer holidays. The summer heat did not bother me and I spent many hours in the attic, where it was housed, reading my mother's collection of books; books she had earned as prizes throughout her school career. There were a couple of red-colored, hardbound books of fairy tales and tales for young children that transported me to a world of make-believe. There was also a wonderful big huge, brown leather-bound copy of the World Pictorial Atlas and some bound versions of National Geographic that was even in those days, a treasured magazine with beautiful color plates of nature, geography, astronomy and wildlife. There were many more interesting books, which unfortunately I can't recall now.

But over the years they soon got dog-eared; the paper of their pages turned yellow and crumbly and we had little choice but to give them away. All except one, "The Golden Treasury". I loved to read the poems in it. Whenever we learnt a new poem in school, I would love to glean through its pages looking for the same poem. It brought me immense joy to see the same one in print, especially since " The Golden Treasury" was a prize my mother had won! It is intact, even today considering the years gone by, it's original glory untouched by time. It still remains with me as a part of my book collection wrapped in fond memories of my childhood and above all the loving energy of that dear soul who was my mother.