The Interview Question That Made Me Start Reading Again

Today, I did something just for myself. I started reading a book that I had been wanting to read for a long time.

My eyebrows relaxed, my shoulders felt light, and I felt a huge sense of satisfaction.

But how did we get here?

Let’s roll back a little…

One Interview Hit Me in the Face

It all started when I was interviewing for a content writer role, and my current manager was asking me about the things that interested me, like geopolitical issues, mythology, and feminism. And she asked me,

“Do you know about Substack?” and I nodded confidently.

The confidence lasted until this question. She asked, “Tell me about the last article you read on Substack.”

Then there was a 10-second pause.

Because I had been reading blogs and watching videos to gain information about different places and cultures. But going on Substack and reading for myself was something that I was not doing at all.

My head at that moment spiralled and went back to an ancient time when I used to read for myself, and the realisation hit me.

I Did Not Read Anything for Myself for One Whole Year!

Yes, I read about places and consumed information for my job, but what about the things I actually liked?
What about the vast world of Indian and Greek mythology that I had loved for years? What about those nights when I had to be at the office the next morning, but was still reading The Forest of Enchantments by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni at 4 am?

What about that kind of passion that would completely take over my mind until I wanted to do nothing but stay with my book?
And everything started making sense to me. There was nothing that I was looking forward to. The simple joy of turning a page had disappeared. The little smile that came from opening a new book and sniffing it was gone. Even the excitement of carrying home a stack of books from Daryaganj, the kind of excitement that makes you wonder which one to start with first, was dead.

[Photograph: @L’summer🌞🏄🏾‍♀️/Pinterest]

But why was this happening?

Because I Had No Hobby

I had indulged in multiple hobbies over the years, the longest being karate, which I practised for 13 years before the pandemic brought it to an end.

After that, I tried taking up other hobbies, including boxing and running, but couldn’t commit to either.

And because I wasn’t doing anything for my joy, my life began to feel strangely flat. Days became predictable: wake up, go to work, listen to the same songs, come back, eat, sleep, and repeat. There was nothing I was eagerly looking forward to.

That’s when the questioning started. Whenever I wrote something, I’d immediately start wondering:

Will people understand this?

What if I have to send a PDF to explain the perspective I wrote from?

What if they don’t get what I’m trying to say?

I started doubting my own thoughts before anyone else even got the chance to.

And I realised that with the disappearance of my hobby, my vision and my confidence disappeared too.

Then came the interview. That was the day when I promised myself that I had to read because if I was not doing something that I used to love, what was I doing then?

So, I Started With 10 Minutes

So I made myself a promise. I would read again. It may not be 50 pages or a book a week. It may be just 10 minutes of reading every day.

And surprisingly, that tiny promise worked!

The books I finished reading within six months

I read almost eight books. Some of the best books were:

1. The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

2. Myth = Mithya by Devdutt Pattanaik

3. The Brave: Param Vir Chakra Stories by Rachna Bisht

4. The Battle of Haji Pir by Kulpreet Yadav

5. The Odyssey by Homer

And I remember the feeling after finishing each book for at least six months; I was coming back to the same little feeling of satisfaction.

I Started Reading to Understand, Not to Remember

This satisfaction helped me in different ways. I was learning new things; I knew a little more than I had the day before. I had things to talk about and ideas to share. There were things I could actually engage with—not just with other people, but with myself too.

Books gave me something to focus on when I was overthinking. And you know what? I even started reading the newspaper.