‘Good writers, storytellers empower you’: Actor Danish Husain on books and his engagement with literature

"I always travel with a book," says Danish Husain, while placing a hardcover of ‘The Dawn of Everything' by David Graeber and David Wengrow, his current read, in a bag as he prepares to set out for his next shoot for the day. Amid his hectic schedule involving a multitude of roles as an actor, storyteller, poet and a theatre artist, he never misses a chance to read a book or two.

"I have learned long back, that there are long waiting periods when you're on a shoot, and I realized the best way to use your time is to either read your script or a book," he adds. This has helped the actor keep up with the habit of reading and cover most of the titles, if not all, from the books neatly positioned in the huge wooden shelves, which do not fail to enthrall reading enthusiasts who visit his house.

Khaleeq Chaudhary, a co-actor and friend who regularly borrows books from Husain says, "The number of books surpasses the number of clothes he owns. Admiring a collection as vast as an ocean, I have realised his life has been all about books. This also inspired me to start reading regularly. Recently, I have been borrowing books by Saadat Hasan Manto."

As someone who grew up in a family, where almost every member had their own library, Husain had developed a keen interest in books since childhood. From preserving the copies of ‘Dan's Naughty Car', the stories that resonated with him as a child, years of consistent indulgence in different forms of literature birthed a rich library of his own. The sight of which echoes those early aspirations of the reader to engage with the written word, stories, writers, thinkers and poets; a testimony to everything that defines his work as an actor and storyteller today.

A story well told is all that matters

A personal library so diverse and mindfully categorised as ‘history', ‘biographies', ‘society and religion' and ‘titles for current reference' among others, it hints at a process followed by the reader to choose the books that go into their shelf. For the storyteller in Husain, it's a compelling narrative, irrespective of the genre, that holds the mind and convinces him to pick the book. The story can be about the most mundane things, but if it is spell binding, it is good to go with.

Image credit: Sarasvati T

"I'm forever looking for this relationship and it interests me how would a writer put in his or her words in a manner where it is just enough to satisfy your thirst for the narrative. And the reader neither gets saturated by it nor feels underwhelmed or thirsty or unquenched? It is really a story being told well, that's driving me in terms of picking a book," says Husain.

Usman Merchant, owner of Mumbai's Prithvi Bookshop where Husain is a frequent visitor for the last 10-12 years, describes Husain as a well-informed reader. "He is one of the few people who will talk about Shaikh Saadi, Hafiz and Bedil and Persian poets too apart from Ghalib and Mir. From Urdu literature, Punjabi plays to English fiction and non-fiction, since he knows the essence of the shop, many times his suggestions also work for us."

Reading in phases is another method, one of the common ones, to choose what one would read next. Following one phase for a period of time, Husain prefers gathering books around one subject or topic. Currently in the ‘history phase', he tells us about his present reads-- ‘The Dawn of Everything' by American Anthropologist David Graeber and British Archaeologist David Wengrow, ‘The Silent Coup' by Josy Joseph and ‘Ret Samadhi' by Geetanjali Shree.

As an artist and a poet who regularly engages with the processes and events of the time in his art and poetry, his collection includes titles ranging from subjects of history and politics to religion, society, culture and economic thought. Moreover, the collection is not restricted to one genre. From biographies, autobiographies, literary criticism to non-fiction, fiction and poetry, it will not be an understatement to say that the actor's bookshelf represents a literally sound and enriched mind.

‘A relay discovery'

"A person leads you to one author, one book and you see the vista and when you see the vista, the vista in itself tells you ten other places that you can go to. You reach one point and then you realize there is another point to go to and then you just keep running," says Husain.

As a child, Husain's earliest inspiration came from his parents, sister, uncle and the reading choices of people he looked up to. In the pre-internet era of the early 90s, book reviews in newspapers and magazines also added to the sources of recommendations to rely upon.

Danish Husain reading 'Ret Samadhi' by Geetanjali Shree. Image credit: Raj Patil

While most of the books at Husain's childhood home were mainly Urdu, Farsi, Arabic and Hindi, school education and elder sister's healthy collection of English literature encouraged him to discover English authors. Academic days at Delhi School of Economics introduced him to economic thought and philosophy, which led him to other philosophers. He credits his friends Chetan Ghate, who is the director of Institute for Economic Growth and Research now and college classmate Praveen Rana for introducing him to writers like Saul Bellow, George Adair and Milan Kundera.

"Then as you read them, you start discovering other people. Through Saul Bellow, I'm discovering Philip Roth, and I'm discovering other great American writers and through Milan Kundera, I'm discovering other great European writers. And I think it's always the case, you open one door and many doors start opening for you," he says.

From family, print media and batchmates to the internet, colleagues and the writers themselves, it is essentially a chain of people and subject, which led the artist to a gamut of credible sources increasing his appetite for reading. He aptly describes this ongoing journey as a "relay discovery".

How reading has shaped the artist's mind and art

"When you read a good book, one of the first things that dawns on you is that ‘I always thought like this, but this person articulates it better, says it better'. The same thing was happening with me when I was reading these great writers and great authors, who made me see beyond what was shown to me," says Husain, whose art as an actor and a storyteller is rooted in literary works, which have been able to make an impact on the readers' mind enabling them to make sense of their surroundings, shared experiences, complex human emotions and relationships in a simple yet powerful manner.

He elucidates further:

"That's what all great thinkers, great writers, great storytellers do. They give you an insight, which was possibly there in plain sight, but you never saw it. They suddenly tell you that there's this crack in the wall and you can see beyond the wall, they are able to see what is underneath the surface, they can tell you what the template is and they can tell you what the great design is behind. And suddenly, the moment you realize that the world opens for you. And I think that's what great writing should do. It should empower you to connect the dots and to derive meaning from it."

Danish Husain as a Dastango. Image courtesy: Danish Husain

In addition to doing theatre, Husain is also credited for the revival of Dastangoi, a tradition of Urdu storytelling which evolved in the Indian subcontinent in the 14^th and 15^th Century. Based on one story, ‘Adventures of Ameer Hamzah', which now consists of around 46 volumes with multiple authors participating in writing it, the art form is essentially about telling long romance epics in multiple sittings. Though he was quite acquainted with the Marsiya Goi tradition of Urdu poetry through oral recitals at home by uncles and grand uncles, Dastangoi opened the world of Urdu literature for Husain.

While knowing the language closely enough through Dastangoi was like "savouring the flavour of the roots and the land", it also enriched his art as an actor and a performer with a strong hold on language. Moreover, reading prominent writers who have had an impact on him such as Saadat Hasan Manto, Ismat Chughtai, Qurratulain Hyder, Shrilal Shukla, Nirmal Verma and Premchand among others in the language they wrote and not their translations has helped him savour the stories of the land in authenticity.

The actor believes the only way to understand people and a community is through the repository, the history, the culture, the literature they have in their language. This, he says, "gives one an edge, not just in terms of being a performer but also in terms of thought process, observation of the world, assimilation of ideas, which you want to project through performance, but also in terms of a shared understanding of who you are, where you are, what this land is, what these stories are and what are you trying to tell through these stories."

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