Indian Writing

John Updike: “Why, oh why, did Salman Rushdie in his new novel call one of his major characters Maximilian Ophuls?”

Salman Rushdie: “A name is just a name. ‘Why, oh why … ?’ Well, why not? Somewhere in Las Vegas there’s probably a male prostitute called ‘John Updike’.”

Rushdie goes on: “The thing that disappointed me most about Updike is that he did not say in that review that he had just completed a novel about terrorism. He had to sweep me out of the way in order to make room for himself. I don’t subscribe to the very predominantly English admiration of Updike. If you take away Rabbit is Rich and Rabbit at Rest, and some of the short stories, there’s a lot of … slightly … garbage. Think of The Coup! The new one [Terrorist] is beyond awful. He should stay in his parochial neighbourhood and write about wife-swapping, because it’s what he can do.”

Boys will be boys, eh…

The whole story here.

Remember Imrana? The woman who, when she was raped by her father-in-law, was asked by community leaders to stop living with her husband? Imrana, wife of rickshaw-puller and part-time brick-kiln worker Nur Ilahi, is the mother of five children. When her father-in-law raped her, the only thing the community leaders advised was that she should stop living with her husband and return to her parents’ home. A clear example of punishing the victim, of course - the easy way out.

Well, this week Imrana has obtained justice. Her father-in-law has been found guilty and sentenced to ten years.

Update: while the All India Muslim Personal Law Board has welcomed the verdict, the local clerics don’t seem to get the point. Earlier they said that Imrana should treat her husband, Nur Ilahi, like a son. Now they’ve declared that Nur Ilahi should leave Imrana. A woman has been dealing with the shock of a horrendous crime, a family has been coping with all the complicated after-effects - but these opinionists just can’t seem to stop meddling.

The “demure young woman”? The “sing-song Indian convent school accent”?

Sushmita Sen on her new film Zindaggi Rocks:

The film was not meant to be a blockbuster. It is not a blockbuster. Yes, it has been defined as Sushmita Sen’s story. It is what life’s about. Zindaggi Rocks doesn’t mean that we go on rocking. No matter how it defines your graph high or low, you make it rock. Yes, as long as I remember I have made that choice.

She’s also starting a new project in Kolkata:

The night club, which is the noisiest corner is called Ssshh, the restaurant will be called Poison and the lounge where you would surrender to the moment is 8, which when lies down becomes infinity. We are going deep into everything.