How has your taste in books changed over the years? You have tried your hand at all forms of literature. Which do you feel most comfortable with?

I have always been fond of old classics, I keep on coming back to them. Nowadays, I read more of biography, social history and about people who have done interesting things. I no longer read fiction that much. I am always more comfortable with the short story. I try to convey some message through the story, and try to make it meaningful in some way, you know, make it meaningful in some way, something beyond an amusing tale. I feel it necessary to bring out the character in the story.

What are the things that you feel strongly about? Your writing is so gentle, and yet, at the same time, your conviction about something can often convert people. How do you feel responsible for that?

I am not an activist, although I do feel strongly about certain things that most people often ignore. I'm afraid I am not a great one for causes, I believe more in the individual's happiness. I think I try to show them in my own gentle ways, how to do things their way. I give freedom to my characters, I think you will agree with me if I said that sometimes they have more of it there than they would in reality. Obviously people should live within reasonable limits, but I do not support too much regulation on those who wish to be out of the ordinary. I do not set out to deliberately to convert to my way of thinking, and it gives me a pleasant surprise when people come up to me and say that my stories have influenced their lives.

I walked a lot, I have always believed that you get to know a place by walking through its lanes and into the surroundings. I was a very shy boy, and it was difficult for me to make friends even though I wanted to. Books were in a way, an escape from loneliness and unhappiness, apart from being an inspiration. I was fond of light classical music and folk music from various parts of the world. There have been periods when I have liked music, but I have not been really passionate about it. I am more sensitive to sounds, because the hills are so isolated.

What it does to family and friends, to people who would, normally get on very well together. It destroys so many lives, and it's all so pointless. But what can be done? Human beings are so contentious by nature. I have had an indirect, but very strong influence of war in my life. My father served in the World War I, Omar found himself engaged in war against a country where he grew up. War makes you very helpless.

I always thought of myself as an adult writer, and I never wanted to be slotted as a children's author. Room on the Roof, similarly was written for adults. A room for me signifies a place where I can be left alone with people and feelings. It's a place where I can write and I have always harboured a strong desire for a room of my own. Remember the story called 'What's your Dream?' I think I had expressed a strong desire for a space that one can call one's own there.

I don't know if it's a philosophy, but I have always believed that life is about small things. We ignore these subtleties, thinking them mundane, but often they have a greater significance in our lives than we suppose. Going and sitting under a tree and observing a group of children, for instance, may be very unimportant as an incident, but when you think of it later, it stands out in your memory because it represents a time in your life when you were happy or unhappy. Things like these help you to place things in their proper perspective.

Perhaps the fact that I could live it the way I wanted to. I have done what I set out to do, and also made a living doing it. I have not had to compromise along the way, and I have always written what I wanted to. I also consider myself fortunate that I have been respected by people of varied age and backgrounds.

You have been writing for a long time now. Writing as a profession has changed substantially over the years. Do you think that the electronic media pose a threat to the printed word?

I do think that the hype around today's authors affects them, especially if they are city people. You get a reflective view of life if you are living away from all this activity. Rushing around, according to me, is not conducive to thoughtful writing. Turning authors into celebrities takes something away from their aloneness, which I feel, is necessary for creative writing. Writing is difficult if you're been made to feel like a performer. You are surely performing, but it's like an exclusive performance for your reader. Despite the expansion of the electronic media, I think the printed word will last, because it is not ephemeral, and since all of us are getting more and more lonely, we need to go back to some private place that will be permanent.

I am coming back to this city after 40 years, although I have many friends here. It has changed, and yet I feel that it is the place I could live in. It is my kind of place, not flashy and moving along in its own civilized pace.