Shreya Paudel, an avid reader and writer, is presently doing his bachelor’s degree in International Political Studies at Middlesex University. He was elected president of the Students’ Union, representing 24,000 students, and was also recently listed by the Guardian as one of the six ‘most inspiring students of 2013’ for a blog he’d written for the paper. Prizma Ghimire talked to Shreya to get an idea of which books and authors he finds most inspiring.  

What book is currently on your reading wishlist?

Spirit Level: Why Equality is Better for Everyone by Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett. 

Who would you say are your favourite authors?

I like authors who are able to depict social realities well. Like Arundhati Roy in God of Small Things, which brilliantly covered class tensions in India, politics, love, childhood dreams and discrimination. But if I were to name the writer I’ve read the most, it would be Paulo Coelho, for how simply and effectively he is able to put ideas in his writing. 

What books have influenced you the most in life?

George Orwell’s Animal Farm would be one of the first ones. I’d read it in my secondary school days and it’s stayed with me since; even back then I could relate to its references to betrayed revolutions around the world, including those in Nepal. Prachanda and Baburam Bhattarai, I think, would fit perfectly those characters in the book who try to convince humans that all they want is peace and normal business. People who’ve read Animal Farm will know which animals I’m talking about. Another book that’s really had an impact on me is In Defence of Global Capitalism by Johan Norberg. Though I still think the market system in its current form is hugely discriminatory and unequal, this book got me to see things from the other side, namely that of a person in love with the existing economic system, but who wanted it to open up more. That was a revelation for me. 

What genre of literature would you say you’re particular to?

I don’t know about a genre as such, but I generally enjoy reading nonfiction, particularly books revolving around the theme of political economy. I do like fiction as well, but it has to be substantial; like right now, I’m reading Tilled Earth by Manjushree Thapa, which is an incredible showcase of life in Nepal. I don’t like stories about witches, wizards, demi-gods and the like, unless it’s something religious. 

Is there anything you’d change about your approach to books?

I tend to get really technical at times and delve too deeply into the use of language and the meanings of words rather than focusing on the larger picture within the content, and could therefore spend ages just staring at two paragraphs or so. Also, I would definitely like to read more Nepali books. It’s not that I don’t read local authors—I read Sudhir Sharma’s Prayogshala recently—but it’s a pretty stunted list compared to my English reading. 

What’s the longest you’ve gone without reading?

I guess it would be this current stretch of time. For the past three or four months, I’ve been focused entirely on my textbooks and academic journal articles, because I need to keep up with my university studies. Consequently, I haven’t had much time for reading outside of what I do for classes. 

If you could read or write in a foreign language, which would it be? 

It would be Spanish because of the fantastic tales that have come out of Latin America. Of late, the region has been striving towards inspiringly progressive politics where the riches are spent on the disadvantaged, like in Venezuela and Bolivia. I wish I could read those tales in Spanish, without the English translations. 

A book you didn’t expect to like, but did?

Rohinton Mistry’s A Fine Balance. I didn’t like how it started, but as the story unfolded, it felt like it was one of the most important books that I had read in a long time. It is set in Indira Gandhi’s emergency era and tells of how much common people had suffered at the time, thanks to the idiosyncrasies of the system. 

Why do you think reading and writing is important? 

Reading is important because it’s a way to see the world by slipping into another person’s shoes, to learn of how they relate to the world, their likes and dislikes, where they see themselves in this crowd of six billion in a world that is ultimately just a tiny rock in the vast expanse of the universe. It’s an almost spiritual experience. And it’s for that very reason that writing is important too because it’s a way of sharing a part of your spirit with others.