It wasn’t just English but also Tamil and French stories that sparked Kalki Koechlin’s love for reading. On Book Lover’s Day, Kalki shares having a “nice mixture” in her early years developed her taste for reading.
Talking about her growing up years, Kalki says, “My love for books began when I was exposed to multilingual books. I would read in English but also in French. My mother loved to read and I remember, my grandmother used to send us books. Like for example, the first time I read the famous book The Little Prince, it was in French. There was also an culture of oral storytelling in our home as I had a nanny, who was Tamilian and would tell me many Indian stories including the Ramayan.”
Reading in French, led to her English not being up to the mark in her early school years, shares the actor. “In my boarding school, when I was about 7 or 9, I don’t recall exactly, I was behind in English. But I had a lovely English teacher, who gave me a huge homework for the summer holiday which included reading some massive books, including Great Expectations, Oliver Twist and a bunch of others. They were difficult for me and my mum had to help me. It was really challenging but after that, I came back and was on top of the class in English. I think, reading changed me and I realized the power of reading. I got involved and even interested in French poetry.”
A voracious reader over the years, Kalki says she “kinda quit reading when Sappho was born” as after a baby there was hardly any time, she says, adding, “I thought forget it, I’m never going to read a book again, except for like children’s books maybe. But, in the last year or so, I have started reading again voraciously. I’m so hungry for books that I went online and ordered eight books recommended by friends. I wanted them handy and on my shelf, so when I need a book it’s there. Because sometimes you want to read and there’s nothing to read. You end up choosing the wrong thing because you’re desperate or whatever.”
Kalki recently finished a “really beautiful book” called In The Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado which is about a lesbian, abusive relationship. “It’s a very powerful book. I also read a really nice Korean novel called Almond. It tells the story of a young boy whose amygdala is underdeveloped and how that affects him. The shape of the amygdala is like an Almond, hence the title. The Amygdala is part of the brain which identifies emotions such as fear and anxiety etc. It was a lovely book.”
Other than reading herself, Kalki also reads to her 4-year-old daughter, Sappho. Talking about her, Kalki says, “It is important to read to kids at that age. I try to find books for her which are out of the ordinary like The Women I Could Be by Sangita Yogi, where Sangita talks about different kinds of women through her drawings. I have also inherited all the books that my grandmother sent us and my mother kept them all these years. Those are in French. I also have a fantastic book on the (Claude) Monet (French painter). It’s his pop up book for kids which has his paintings but as pop up. It is really exciting for young kids. Another incredible book is Wolf Elbruch’s The Big Question, where this boy asks people what is the meaning of life and gets different kinds of answers. For some reason, she’s very attracted to all the artist books that I have. I have one on Henri Matisse (French visual artist) and I think she loves Joan Miró (Spanish painter and sculptor) because his drawings are very childlike. She loves the colours and always picks it up.” Kalki is also continuing the oral storytelling tradition and shares a story for Sappho, when she is away at work. “Since I began working and travel for work, I send her stories that she can listen to at bedtime- something both of us enjoy,” she says.