Proust questionnaire with a citizen.

[Text and photo by Mayank Austen Soofi]

After flying 5,000 miles from Delhi, The Delhi Walla landed two days ago in Dublin. The Ireland capital is the legendary setting of James Joyce’s novel Ulysses, the great modernist novel that entirely unfolds within a day—16 June. The date is celebrated worldwide as Bloomsday, named after the novel’s hero. To celebrate arguably the world’s greatest city-novel, The Delhi Walla is briefly becoming The Dublin Walla. So, say namaste to Leanne Chapman, a receptionist who first read Ulysses as a teenager (see her photo holding the said novel). She lives in the Dublin suburbs with her Indian partner, a native Mumbaikar. This afternoon, sitting by Harcourt Street, facing the tramway line on which a train is clattering every five minutes, she agrees to become a part of our Proust Questionnaire series, in which citizens are nudged to make “Parisian parlour confessions”, all to explore our distinct experiences.

Your favorite occupation
For a long time I wanted to be a journalist.

The principal aspect of your personality.
I’m quite strong-willed.

What would be your greatest misfortune?
I have already lost one parent. So, I have a fear of losing my mother.

The natural talent you’d like to be gifted with.
I always wanted to have a talent for dancing, and experience this sort of freedom of movement. I dance in my pad when nobody’s watching.

If not yourself, who would you be?
Somebody like Greta Thunberg.

Your favorite poets.
Sylvia Plath.

Your favorite heroines in fiction.
It’s in a fantasy book titled Fourth Wing. The lead female protagonist has a disability and she overcomes it.

Your heroes in real life.
My mom, Peggy. She raised three children on her own as a single parent, and she did a very good job.

Your favorite names.
Leila, Seth.

What do you hate the most?
People who fake competency.

The military event you admire the most.
In France, when its ordinary people revolted against the aristocracy.

The reform you admire the most.
Marriage equality in Ireland in 2015.

How do you wish to die?
Peacefully, when I’m old, in my sleep.

Faults for which you have the most tolerance
People being late.

Your motto in life.
Can’t borrow tomorrow’s troubles.