Gulfam Khan Hussain: A Voracious Reader and Passionate Book Collector

It’s National Book Lovers Day on August 9, and Dhruv Tara-Samay Sadi Se Pare actor Gulfam Khan Hussain, who is seen in Gehna: Zevar Ya Zanjeer, said, “I am a voracious reader and also a collector of books. I have over 1500 books, and some of them are rare collectibles. From 1970s Times to 1940s/50s Film India. From Tinkle/Archies to Rare Reader's Digest. I have loads of non-fiction fiction too.”

“I have been fond of story-telling since I remember. My elder sister used to read a lot; I remember eyeing her Pride and Prejudice (she's 7 years older than me). Although I started reading because of my 5th-grade teacher, Ms. Rose Fernandes, who gave me a 'task' to read a book, thinking I didn't know reading because I refused to speak English when I finished the book in a day, she got to know I was just not confident,” she added.

And for a reader like her, audiobooks won’t work. She said, “God knows I tried, but my eyes kept getting distracted, and hence my mind with it. I love the feel and smell of books; hence, it's a physical book for me over Kindle. Having said that, I do carry it while traveling to help me travel lighter.”

Gulfam believes that the habit of reading books is mostly passed down from parents to their kids. She added, “In our generation, we were curious ones who didn't get to travel or explore much. Books were portals for us; we saw the world and experienced different cultures through books. Now everything is at the click of the keyboard. Hence, the curiosity about reading has diminished.”

She further said, "Also, the attention span has become so short that people don't have the patience to read anymore, for today's generation, language has become lingo, smart is 'lit', a favorite kind of person is 'woke' and so on. When the kids don't know the vocabulary and we as parents want to learn 'their' language, the world is surely going upside down. It's time to dust the books.”

A book that you have re-read multiple times? “I love re-reading The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand. It's just fabulous. Another book I like to read is World History and Human Evolution. Otherwise, I'm a fiction girl,” Gulfam ended.

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