Dialogue About Your Hobby

Two friends compare their hobbies — stamp collecting and rooftop gardening — and what each gives them.

A dialogue between Nabila and Rumana

Nabila: Rumana, what is that book you are carrying? It looks like an album.

Rumana: It is my stamp album. Collecting stamps is my hobby.

Nabila: Really? I did not know anybody still did that. How did you begin?

Rumana: My uncle works abroad and used to send letters home. I started saving the stamps from the envelopes when I was nine.

Nabila: How many do you have now?

Rumana: A little over four hundred, from twenty-six countries. This one is from Japan.

Nabila: It is beautiful. But does a hobby like this have any real use?

Rumana: I think so. I have learned more geography from these stamps than from any map, and I read about every country I get one from.

Nabila: I had not thought of it that way.

Rumana: It also gives me something to do that is not a screen. What is your hobby?

Nabila: Gardening, though it is a small one. I grow chillies and tomatoes in tins on our roof.

Rumana: That is a fine hobby too. Does it take much time?

Nabila: Half an hour in the morning and a little in the evening. It is the calmest part of my day.

Rumana: Then we both have hobbies worth keeping. Shall we show each other next week?