Sir Salman Rushdie

I just came across a story on the knighthood of Salman Rushdie, writer extraordinaire, which has again sparked controversy and threats to his life.


My interest in Sir Salman is personal. I was introduced to his work almost twenty years ago by someone who would affect my life tremendously. The Jaguar Smile was the very first work of this writer that I read. It was an introduction to a brilliant author in the most unusual circumstances.


Picture this: I was a naive and impressionable 25 year old travelling abroad for the first time. It was August 1988 and I was in Rostov-on-Don by the Russian steppes, in the then USSR. I was with a group of experts on desertification, the baby in the group, and was in sneakers all the time (except when we had our official meetings!).


I was in awe of everything, and had this urge to want to embrace anything new that I encountered. We travelled to a few places in the Soviet Union: after Rostov was Krasnodar, then Stavropol. I walked in a park where I saw a bust of Pushkin, drank vodka with Russian colleagues, and ate borscht with officials of a collective farm. Somewhere we saw part of the Black Sea, then our last stop was Moscow.

Standing in the middle of the Red Square gave me goose bumps and being inside St. Basil's cathedral filled me with so much wonder.

There was no stopping me, I felt as if for the first time, I could explore facets of myself that were not possible where I came from. It was a very strange feeling in a sense, because the reason for me being there was related to my work, yet this whole trip became a life changing experience.

And Mr. Rushdie enters the picture, this Indian writer who irreverently writes about my country's President in this book which became a standing joke between me and this newfound friend. The very first Indian novelist I read, While this work had nothing to do with India, he definitely influenced my interest in looking up more Indian writers and devouring their work!

So each time I see Salman Rushdie's name or work mentioned, I cannot help but feel nostalgic. I want to be 25 again, to be reckless and carefree and believe that fairy tales could come true!

And yes, after that first trip abroad, I did not stop, I have travelled to places that in my wildest dreams I would never have thought possible, but that very first sortie will always be the most special, for the bittersweet memories that it evokes!