India, July 18 -- The spine was already softened, the corners worn, the underlines familiar. She reached once again for the same book she had read at sixteen, then at twenty-five and now, years later, with the quiet certainty of knowing what would happen - and finding comfort in it. Psychologists refer to this as part of our "narrative identity"- the idea that we understand ourselves through the stories we engage with. Re-reading becomes a way to revisit the self in different stages of time.

A 2021 survey by The Reading Agency (UK), in partnership with Specsavers, found that more than 1 in 3 readers-35 per cent experience happiness through rereading, with that figure rising to 41 per cent among those aged 18 to 24. The survey also reveal...