Most of us hardly read anything outside our syllabus, maybe a newspaper once in a while but venturing beyond that would be an eccentric choice. Meet Saloni Srivastava who took her passion for reading to an altogether different level. From reading short stories for fun to now pursuing a PhD in English literature and helping student unravel the sweet magic of English prose and poetry while teaching in Shiv Nadar University. Saloni pursued her graduation from Sri Venkateswara College (DU) and her post-graduation from Hansraj College (DU) currently she is a PhD scholar and teaches at Shiv Nadar University.
Saloni has vivid memories her teachers especially Mrs. Preeti Singh, who would encourage her students to read beyond the pages of the textbooks. But one story she fondly recalls from her early days is of Chetan Bhagat. She recalls, “He was coming to Sur Sadan for a book launch or a seminar and I could not attend the event, I regretted it for days.” She laughs and says imagine that now.
But the passion for reading was rubbed on to her by her brother and father who are readers themselves, in fact when asked about her opinion on audiobooks she again remembers how her brother was the one who made her see the bright side of the audio medium.
Starting off with the fictional romances of Erich Segal she moved to some of the finest pieces of English literature.
She owns an upside of 10000 books and with a smile tells us how she made one trip only carrying her books when she moved out of her house for college. Today when you can carry lakhs of books in a seven inches kindle even now, she prefers the smell of a paperback.
Her golden advice to the beginners is to just read whatever you like over the recommended one and for those who fear picking one of the thick books pick up a short story collection. Start your journey you reach the right spot today or tomorrow.
Thank you so much for this wonderful cover of my story!
ReplyDeleteYou made it a bright day :)