Books make her world go round

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The spunky Vishakha Singh might have turned several heads with her performances in films like Fukrey and Bajatey Raho, but there’s one more thing she likes to turn — the pages of a book! A self-confessed bibliophile, Vishakha exclaims, “I grew up in a family where everyone loved to read. We had a lovely library in my house which I practically lived in throughout my childhood. In school, I was the dorky kid who used to throng the library while the rest of the class went out to play during the PT period! The only materialistic thing I ask for on my birthdays are books, and lots of them — that’s what makes me happiest.”
Quiz her on her early favourites, and she says, “I loved the works of authors like Jane Austen, Thomas Hardy and George Elliot. The 19th century was always fascinating to me. Slowly, I moved on to the more ‘masala’ reads like Sidney Sheldon and James Hadley Chase (yes, I admit the vivid covers piqued me, hehe). Then of course, J.K.Rowling happened to me and Harry Potter was all my world was about. I was one among the Potterheads to pre-order, stand in queues, bunk school and finish each book as soon as it came out!”
Vishakha goes on, recalling her favourite memories spent with a tome in hand, “George Elliot’s The Mill on the Floss is my all-time favourite book; I identify with the lead character Maggie a lot. In the book people describe her as a ‘handsome girl’. Being someone who looks like my dad, I’ve been called that too! Also, these days in between shoots, I manage to read a lot of Manto’s short stories that I love. Vikram Seth’s A Suitable Boy is on my next-to-read list.”
The actress also reveals that she has a hidden talent — writing! “Yes, I write a lot of short stories when I’m free, especially for children. I would like to publish them someday, it’s quite a secret wish of mine. Oh and I read somewhere that you should never be with a guy who doesn’t read — I totally abide by that!” she laughs and signs off.