Salil Subedi is an actor, writer and musician. An avid Tom Robbins fan, Subedi confesses his life just wouldn’t be the same without books. The Post’s Anup Ojha caught up with the artist to talk about his devotion towards reading. Excerpts:

What are you presently reading? What is it about?

I am currently reading Tom Robbins’ Jitterbug Perfume. It is my fourth time reading this work of fiction, and it  has been blowing my mind, many times, since 1998. The book is about immortality and its relation to perfume. But then it’s a colourful carpet of stories that sparks the ancient shamanic wisdom, eastern and western philosophy, and the history of the world in one millennia with awesome humour.

Beat Writers at Work, edited by George Plimpton, which I found in a second hand store, is a collection of interviews with 12 beat writers whose life and ‘take on life’ is a unique experience I am going through as well. I have also picked up The Song of King Gesar from where I left it off. It is a rendering of Tibetan myth juxtaposed in the current contexts by Alai, the Chinese poet and novelist.

How did you first come to love books?

I don’t exactly remember when it happened but stories have always fascinated me. I saw different universes inside children’s book. My imagination was unleashed: I could fly in space with astronauts and aliens, dive under the sea, get lost in tropical forests, climb high mountains, meet people, hear their stories, be with them inside their home. I could hear what animals and plants were speaking. In adult life, I fell in love with books because they excited me when I read about love, sex, travelling, dream projects. And the love affair continues as books continue to make me understand that life is bitter sweet; they tell stories of injustice, hegemony, of humanity, on which sphere I am, and can do to contribute to develop a culture of justice, peace and love with my music, performance and writings through the insight I gain through reading.

What was the last book you read and how did you like it?

I recently finished reading many Nepali books. The latest one is Loo by Nayanraj Pandey. In the given socio-political context, what the author presents, through the linguistic interplay of words and realities, are unacknowledged narratives of the people of the Tarai, in a powerful form. Sharada Sharma’s Taap provides an interesting twist from a women writer’s point of view as she makes an intervention into the Buddhist spiritual refuge practice from an angle that I found fascinating.

I read Dor Bahadhur Bista’s Sotala a second time. I simply love the linear story and the context of it.

Who are your favourite writers?

Honestly, I don’t know. My love affair with my favourite writers keeps on changing. But give me Tom Robbins—any day! (Except Half Asleep in Frog Pyjamas, it is an impossible read.)

What is your favourite genre?

I love all genres. But if I have to place them in order, it would be: On music art theatre, spiritual, travelogues, non-fiction, fiction, followed by the others.

What is good writing for you? What would you say makes a good writer?

Something that consistently keeps on changing the mood on your face while you drill through until the last page; something that you find so difficult to put down till you finish it; something that motivates you to go out and do something meaningful to share your experience in a different form. In my case I do so through my music and performance.

How have books affected your life?

Massively. I mean, what would I do without them?

What’s your take on e-book?

E-books are a good medium for me. Especially as I am an avid online learner and make multidisciplinary studies of my music and performance craft that are rather off the mainstream, e-books are a great relief. I particularly like them because I can make digital annotations.

Which book do you think is a must-read?

Let me not get serious about “one book that will change your life forever”. It’s a cliché marketing line. But yes, in my universe you may read all of Tom Robbins books, read the latest Nepali writers: they are trying their best, read African writers, search for unknown Asian writers.

Your advice for young readers?

Just read buddies! For a lot of young readers, digital editions are not much of a problem to attain and read. So don’t get caught in the debate of print or digital. Read on your mobile phone, on your tablet, on your laptop, PC, on your desk; drill those funny smelling print pages from the library, anything—just read! Don’t listen to the mid-age crisis groups who go about confusing you which is better than which. It’s your world, stay happy reading!