"I've been a voracious reader since my childhood. Always had a book in hand, even while watching TV. I recall my friends reading stuff like Mills & Boons whereas I loved reading Russian and Hindi classics. I remember reading Crime and Punishment by Fyodor M. Dostoevsky while in school. Later, I shifted on to bestsellers.

I inculcated the reading habit from my school teachers and my parents. And now reading helps me in my profession as story telling comes naturally to me.

Now, I am lucky as my husband too loves to read, so we have a good collection of books at home. Even my kids like to read. I have a huge collection of books on script writing and other aspects of the television industry. Book buying is a regular activity which is based on book reviews appearing across the media.

I like to keep abreast the recent bestsellers, and reviews as they help me to pick up the right books. Unfortunately, with our hectic working schedule, I don't find too much time to read. But, I do try to read at nights, or generally browse through some of my all time favourite books.
My favourite books
Some of my favourite books are Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell and Roots by Alex Haley. Both the books have characters with a great depth and range. I keep going back to these books after a gap of few years. As a matter of fact, Gone with the wind is one of the very few books that has turned out very well as the movie. Otherwise, movies do not do much justice to books.

I recently read The Bridges of Madison County by Robert Waller which has left a deep impression on my mind. It's an understated love story told with an utmost simplicity. The story is going to stay with me for a long time.

In Hindi, I have liked the work of Maitrai Pushpa, a Delhi based writer who has also won an academy award. Her work consists of stories about women by women that are amazingly poignant. One day I would like to adapt these stories on the idiot box. Sholay, the Making of a Classic by Anupama Chopra was one hell of a fun book. I also enjoyed reading My Autobiography by Charles Chaplin, which is an extremely well written book.

Books that do not hold me--
A Suitable boy by Vikram Seth did not hold me. I like to read books that leave a lot to imagination. The self-help, spiritual or management books are not for me. I have read murder mysteries written by Alfred Hitchcock and Perry Mason. Also, read The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown recently.