‘I was a voracious reader as a child’

ME, MYSHELF AND I: SWARA BHASKER

Which books are currently on your reading list?

Just finished Mr And Mrs Jinnah: The Marriage that Shook India. Currently, I am reading Ants Among Elephants : An Untouchable Family and the Making of Modern India.

Which was the best book you’ve read so far?

So many. But the three that really made an impact on me. A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth, My Son’s Story by Nadine Gordimer and A Case of Exploding Mangoes by Mohammad Hanif.

Which genres do you enjoy reading? Which do you avoid?

I enjoy love stories, literary fiction, historical novels, love stories and children’s fiction. I’m not a fan of science fictions or fantasy.

Which book do you think everyone should read at least once?

Mill On The Floss by George Eliot. The works of Michael Ondaatje, Orhan Pamuk and Gabriel García Márquez and The Gospel According To Jesus Christ by José Saramago.

What do you like to read when you travel?

Fiction or a travelogue about the place I’m visiting.

Which is your favourite fairy tale or folk story?

The Far Away Tree series by Enid Blyton is my favourite.

What kind of reader were you as a child?

I was a voracious reader. I had read A Suitable Boy when I was 13-years-old and DH Lawrence by the time I was 14. I loved Enid Blyton as a child and Judy Blume as a teenager.

If you had to name one book that made you who you are today, which would it be?

Mill On The Floss and Sunlight On A Broken

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Which author would you choose to write your life story?

Mohammad Hanif. I like his unsentimental and caustic take on his characters.