Home Stories: Reading habits & rituals of a Bangalore-based family
While we can read anywhere, there’s something special about the connection between reading and home. It’s where all the books we own or have borrowed, live along with us. It’s where we often - consciously or by force of habit - have familiar spaces to sit with our books and tune out the world. It’s also where we slowly craft rituals and habits around reading.
Amir Hasan and Insha Hoda have been married for 12 years and have a 7 year old daughter, Naureen Hasan. Insha started her college life with English Literature, but then inspired by her father’s career, she found her professional calling in the insurance world. Amir is a market research professional, who was born in a fairly academic family, amongst readers of literature, history, and poetry. Naureen’s credentials include being a worry-free kid, going to school, playing with her friends, attending relevant social functions, and reading a LOT.
Their love for reading - which varies in intensity - is a thread that connects this lovely family. I chatted with Amir and Insha (Naureen made a special appearance) to talk about reading at home. Slightly structured excerpts from a free-flowing conversation:
Insha, Naureen & Amir
Perfect time to read:
Amir: “All three of us like to read before we sleep.”
Reading habits:
Amir: “My time is divided in terms of the time when I read and the time when I don’t. Life is basically a series of obstacles that stops me from reading.”
He mostly reads at least two hours before his house wakes up. Depending on the time, his reading ritual involves making a meticulous cup of tea or coffee - which he jokingly refers to as his psychotropic drugs.
Insha: “I just read when I get free from everything at night. There is no ritual.”
Naureen: Proud mom Insha says, “She does read a lot. Her teachers have often told us that her reading is more advanced than what is usually the norm at her age. She is not so good at writing though but we have made our peace with that. Maybe by the time she grows up, writing will be redundant.
She has definitely grown up seeing us both read. And when the pandemic hit, all three of us were reading more than usual as we were forced to be indoors. Earlier (at three), she was more into picture books, but by the time she turned five, she was reading a lot more variety of books. Whenever I travel, I bring her a gift and a book, so that’s a subtle way to add more books to her collection. Her TV time is quite limited and structured, so that also helps with allocating more time to reading.”
“Necessity is the mother of invention. I mainly taught her to read on her own, so I don’t have to give up my reading time,” says Amir.
In between, Naureen shows me the book she is currently reading - Yuval Noah Harari’s Unstoppable Us.
Reading spaces:
Amir: “We have this one corner in the living room where we have a recliner that we got re-upholstered. This is where I do most of my reading.”
They have always had a ‘reading recliner’ ever since they got married - their old one is now in their daughter’s room. Naureen reads either on that or in her bed.
The recliner space doesn’t work for Insha anymore. “It’s in the junction of the living and dining room. I don't get any reading done there because whenever I sit there, people just assume I am free and they end up interacting with me. My daughter sees that as the perfect time to talk to me about her day. My housekeeper wants to discuss the grocery list with me,” she says.
While she has currently resorted to reading on her bed before bedtime, Insha has an idea for her very own reading corner away from the hustle and bustle of the house. “I have realised that I need a reading corner which feels more intimate and where people don’t have easy access to me. I have this mounted desk in our master bedroom and since I mostly work out of my office now, I am going to turn it into a reading corner. There is a very comfortable armchair in that room which can easily moonlight as my reading chair.”
In terms of a potential reading space, they have two lovely balconies in their house. Says Amir, “While we did use the balconies a lot for reading during the pandemic, we don’t anymore. We have a beach type chair there, but somehow it doesn’t work for reading. I would like to do more with the balcony areas, and if you find some good ideas for balcony furniture in your research, do let us know. Also, climate change hasn’t helped. It has started raining so much in Bangalore now, it’s hard to sit outdoors.”
“Life is basically a series of obstacles that stops me from reading.”
“I have realised that I need a reading corner which feels more intimate and where people don’t have easy access to me.”
Books organisation:
They have four bookshelves in the house - one in the living room where their ‘fanciest’ books can be found (that bookshelf is from Urban Ladder). Two of the shelves are in the guest room - one of which is colossal which was designed by Insha and custom-made by a local carpenter. It currently accommodates around 1500 books. The other one they procured from a scrapyard in Bangalore and then refurbished it. The last one is in Naureen’s room.
“I'd rather spend my money on books than on bookshelves,” shares Amir.
In terms of how they like to organise their books, Amir says, “Very loosely put, I divide them by genre. There are some specific sections and then not. We have a dedicated travel section and a Science Fantasy section. Then there is space allocated to my favourite genre - Fiction - which has books by John Steinback, Haruki Murakami, Gabriel García Márquez, among others. History and Pop Science is spread all over. It's also a function of how my reading is spread over time. Sometimes, it's divided by the types of books, like graphic novels tend to have their own space. I tried carving out a space for Manga too but it’s overflowing now.”
Insha says that they used to share books earlier but starting from this year, she is building her own private collection which she keeps by her bedside.
Books-related idiosyncrasies:
One of the reasons why Insha has started building her own collection is that Amir doesn’t like any kind of marks or notes on his books. “And I like to mark stuff and make notes in my books. So now I'm free to do whatever I want,” Insha declares emphatically.
“It’s true. My books mostly feel like they haven’t ever been read even when they have - sometimes, multiple times,” Amir proudly confesses.
Insha has one more grudge. “He writes his name on all his books, so as a form of revenge, now I am putting my name on all my books.”
I am very curious about this naming business as I have personally never thought about putting my names on my books after college. I dig deeper.
Explains Amir, “Well, I've been buying more than I need. I have so many new books and a lot of secondhand books. In fact, I have these series of travel books from a seller in Mumbai, and most of those belong to this one guy who writes his name and the dates on when he started and finished the book on every copy. I think that’s a nice thing to do, but I only write my name so far.”
Advice on how to get kids to read more:
It’s actually quite simple, says Amir.
Practice what you preach. If a kid sees you reading often, he or she is bound to pick it up as a habit.
Bookstores are still magical places. There is no kid who walks into a bookstore and says, ‘I'm bored and I want to go back.’ Take your kid to the local bookstores (avoid the ones that are very commercial - Insha chimes in - as they have more toys than books, like Crossword bookstores). There are some fantastic government libraries which can be explored too.
Lastly, some favourites:
Naureen’s - Garfield, The Book with No Pictures by BJ Novak
Insha’s - “My favourite would be Haruki Murakami’s Norwegian Wood, maybe because I just re-read it. In his later work, Murakami built in so much bizarre stuff in the stories. However, this one is a simple story that doesn’t hide behind any tricks, and you can follow the story through and through. You don’t have to imagine another world, a second moon, or shadows. I really liked getting lost in it. The second favourite is Gabriel Garcia Marquez’ Love in the Time of Cholera.”
Amir’s - “Whenever someone asks me for my favourite, I don’t know what to say. But here’s a book I highly recommend - Indica : A Deep Natural History of the Indian Subcontinent by Pranay Lal. It is not typically a book I would pick up, but it has really surprised me. Geography is not a subject most of us were too keen on while growing up, but he has blown my mind about how interesting it can be. It’s hands down one of the most fascinating, magical books I have ever read.”