Time to Know You, Dear Reader : An Interview with Nishi Shroff

** My journey with books cannot proceed without the company of other readers. Its an unsaid, unclaimed family that we are all part of. Its simply beautiful to know how other people feel about books and it can't get any better than when they share their journeys with you. So I am taking on this new venture of knowing the people/readers who inspire me by letting them take me through their own worlds of books and the art of reading. Its the most joyous event I've been a part of. Here is my very first reader in all her simplicity and wonder, recounting her memories and happy times with the books that have inspired and formed her being.**

Readers Name: Nishi Shroff

Obsession: Steaming hot cups of coffee, Dance, Music, Muffins, Cookies and Quotes by Sri Sri.  

Question 1:  How did your journey with books begin?

It started with the Library Period at School. I began with Knights of The Round Table, as I grew older I started picking the thickest novels, mostly classics, because I wanted to improve. But my interest in reading developed when I read ‘Pride and Prejudice’. I was too small to understand most of the words, so I sat with a dictionary and after every few sentences I’d be looking for meanings. It was frustrating, but I wanted to read the book so badly that I didn’t care. It is still my favourite and it’s the only book I’ve read more than once.

The Harry Potter series had me hooked. It’s fantasy, but it has been my place of escape from the drudgery of the mundane and the problems you face growing up.

Question 2:  Who according to you is a reader?

When the written word, a phrase or a sentence, strikes a chord with you, you automatically become a reader, it doesn’t matter what you read.

Question3:  What is it that you love about books?

They contain the universe in them. There’s inspiration, there’s hope and sometimes there’s that vacation you want to take from the people you interact with. A book is romance, sometimes it’s a forbidden affair and sometimes it’s your best friend, it makes you experience feelings you never knew, it helps you uncover elements of your own personality.

Question 4:  How would you define the art of reading?

 The art of reading is silence; it is the art of taking a moment with yourself.

Question 5:  One reader that inspires you and why?

No reader inspires me, people inspire me, birds inspire me, the weather inspires me, words inspire me - oxygen inspires me; but not a reader, because reading is so personal that taking advice on it is like asking someone whether you bathe correctly.

Question 6:  What according to you is the connection between words and images?

An experience, that it captures an experience.

Question 7:  Do you like visiting libraries/bookstores? If so, what is it about a library that would make you feel at home?

Bookstores. I like getting lost in them, feels like no one can find me and there’s nowhere to go and no one to know. All I need is the serenity of music, the cool air, the smell of coffee and the time to discover messages hidden inside hardcovers I don’t know as yet. And these books are safe to know, I can start where I want and leave when I like, and if I get hooked, it’s just a book.

Question 8:  Have you ever stumbled upon an unknown book store? How was the feeling?

Yes, it feels like I have discovered a new haunt, so I explore every inch of it as soon as I can.

Question 9:  Books come unexpectedly and very beautifully in our lives. There are moments when they come least expected. Have you experienced this? If so, which book made you lucky?

Yes all the time. I hate looking for a book to read, that’s why these days I barely read. I’m very selective, so I haven’t read much. For me it was Pride and Prejudice, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, The Alchemist and My Sister’s Keeper.

Question 10:  Have you ever faced a readers’ block?

I think I’ve been facing one for about two or three years now.

Question 11:  If you were to write your own book journal what would you name it and why?

I always have these crazy names pop up, but today I can’t think of any.

Question 12:  One library around the globe that you would like to visit?

None.

Question 13:  A bookstore you would want to recommend:

TITLE WAVES, Bandra.

Question 14:  The current quote in your mind right now:

Blank, blank, blank, but this is my favourite:

“I dreamed I was a butterfly, flitting around in the sky; then I awoke.

Now I wonder: Am I a man who dreamt of being a butterfly,

Or am I a butterfly dreaming that I am a man?”

– Chuang Tzu

Question 15: Books v/s E-books: your pick?

BOOKS, I like holding them and I love the feeling of placing bookmarks in them, and I love the smell of the pages of a really good book.

Question 16:  The current read on your bedside table:

Not on the table, but in my bag (all the time) – EATS, SHOOTS & LEAVES by Lynne Truss; hilarious book about punctuation.

Question 17:  Define your version of an ideal reading experience:

An ideal reading experience is to have some time on your own, at a place that offers a relaxing ambience and allows you the freedom to look up from the pages and wonder about life and how beautiful the day really is.

Question 18: 3 favorite authors:

No favourites, I could name some but that’d just be pretentious. I think everyone manages that one fantastic book and barely anyone is second time lucky.

Question 19:  3 favorite books:

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE

THE HARRY POTTER SERIES

THE ALCHEMIST

MY SISTER’S KEEPER (for artistic sensibility)

THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY

Question 20:  Any wish-list reads?  

None. With books (as it is with people) – I know it when I see it.

** Thank You Nishi Shroff -- You've just enlightened me today! :) **