Writer Vikram Sampath’s cultural pursuits

Writer Vikram Sampath’s tastes in arts are slightly out-of-the-box and he prefers to keep it diverse and prudent...

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I thrive on non-fiction, especially books where facts and details are intertwined effortlessly in the narrative. The list of favourite books in this category is way too long, but I will prune it down. I was totally captivated by a book I recently read, called The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. Rebecca weaves a poignant story dealing with the ethical issues in the case of a black woman in America called Henrietta Lacks whose cancer cells were the basis for a multi-billion dollar research industry, unknown to her family. It leaves you disturbed for many days. All time favourites have been books by Ramachandra Guha — India after Gandhi and The Makers of Modern India. Rani by Jaishree Misra, Emperors of the Peacock Throne by Abraham Eraly, The Virtue of Selfishness by Ayn Rand are some other must-reads.

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I’ve always been a great movie buff and while I was in Mumbai I would manage to catch every possible movie. These days the frequency has certainly come down because of my packed schedule. Apart from evergreen favourites like Sholay, Life is Beautiful, The Guns of Navarone, The Godfather and Schindler’s List — I particularly like the coming-of-age variety of films where the protagonist struggles to find a purpose in life. Wake Up Sid, Lakshya are some my favourites.

Tune Table
Music is a constant buzz in my life! Being a student of Indian classical music myself, it is this that tops my list naturally. Pt Bhimsen Joshi, Pt Jasraj, Bombay Jayashri, Jayanthi Kumaresh are favourites — to name just a few. Ghazals and old Hindi film music too are high on the list. Some of my favourites are Jagjit Singh, Mohammad Rafi, Manna Dey, Lata Mangeshkar and in the current lot, I like listening to Sonu Nigam’s songs.

—- As told to Sharanya C R