India, March 20 -- With his long grey beard, the calmly book browser is resembling literary lions like Tolstoy and Tagore. Poet Ashok Kumar Malik is a faithful patron of Delhi's Sunday Book Bazar, commuting almost every Sunday from his Ghaziabad residence to the market in Mahila Haat. This afternoon, he 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.

The principal aspect of your personality.

I'm continually absorbing and being absorbed by nature.

Your idea of happiness.

Happiness has to be redefined. I think it is more important to cultivate our sensitivity at the risk of ending up hurt or sad. There is, I think, n...