 CEO of Shell Gas (LPG) and a single mother of two lovely children Fauzia Kazmi still finds time to indulge in her passion for reading. “I enjoy a variety of books so it could be fiction or non-fiction, it could be anything. But I really enjoyed Bill Bryson’s A Short History of Nearly Everything, although at times it was too technical and too scientific. I also enjoyed Orientalism by Edward Said, and his autobiography Out of Place.
“My taste is really varied. It depends on which mood I’m in and sometimes I read two or three books at a time. These days, I’m reading a translation of Amir Hamza’s works. I’m not enjoying it as much, because as a child I read Dastan-e-Amir Hamza in Urdu, but that was the children’s version. Now this is the adult version of Dastan-e-Amir Hamza so I’m finding it hard to reconcile the two. I really enjoyed Maximum City by Suketu Mehta. It’s about the Bombay underworld, so you know its’ very different topics that I enjoy. Of course, I can even read a trashy novel if I’m too tired. It depends on what mood I’m in and how much time I would like to spend on reading.”
Fauzia continues, “As I grow older, I like to read a lot of books on religion as well — and not just Islam — it can be any religion. I now enjoy reading such books and I associate it with being older and dwelling more on religion and faith. When you’re younger, you’re really just too busy to think of these things. Among the books on Islam, I really enjoyed The Heirs of the Prophet by Barnaby Rogerson, and Martin Lings’ Muhammad. It’s beautiful.” – Mashaal Gauhar
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