English हिन्दी
Connect with us

India News

Late Meeting with the Late Naipaul

Published

on

Late Meeting with the Late Naipaul

~By Dilip Bobb

Well before the encounter actually took place, meeting Vidia Naipaul seemed a daunting prospect. That was mainly because of the interviews he had given or remarks he had made where he came across as cantankerous old man with inherent biases and complexes. He had also showed, on innumerable occasions, a dislike for journalists who asked him awkward questions about women, other writers, his love/hate relationship with India and his dark, unsparing view of the world around him.  Naipaul, or ‘Sir Vidia’ as he liked to be called, was no stranger to India—his India trilogy was proof enough—-but I met him face to face when he was passing through Delhi en route to Goa to be the star attraction at Tarun Tejpal’s Thinkfest in Goa. Naipaul had proved a major benefactor to Tejpal’s Tehelka magazine and he had agreed for a quiet dinner with a small group of invitees, which included me. The dinner took place in a reserved area at the Park Hotel in central Delhi and when I arrived, according to Delhi Time, I was clearly late—Sir Vidia was already ensconced in a corner table with his wife Nadira hovering protectively over him. Tarun, an old friend and former colleague, took me over and introductions were made but it was obvious that it was Nadira, his second wife and 20 years his younger, would act as his mouthpiece and steer us away from conversations he was averse to.  I had spoken to her earlier, on the telephone during a visit to London where I wanted to interview him, and she had made it clear that she controlled access to him and decided whom he should and should not meet.

At the Park hotel, she was playing that role effectively, and the much awaited meeting with Naipaul was turning into a farce, till she got up from her chair to bring dinner for her celebrated husband from the buffet table. I quickly slipped into her seat and asked the Man how he was enjoying Delhi. “I have not stepped out of the hotel,” he said gruffly, going into a rather descriptive account of a stomach ailment and Delhi’s ‘poisonous air’ and ‘unhygienic habits’ which reminded me of his Indian trilogy, starting with An Area of Darkness, his deeply pessimistic work which was almost banned for its excessively negative portrayal of India. In fact, when an attractive young hostess from the restaurant approached him to inquire if he wanted a refill of his glass of red wine, he brusquely brushed her away. It reminded me of his famous, or infamous, remark that ‘Indian women wear a coloured dot on their foreheads to say “my head is empty’. His misogyny was well known so it was no surprise, but when I asked him his views on Indian writers his self-centred disdain was again in evidence, saying he had read very few of them, but did grudgingly, acknowledge individual works by Vikram Seth and the late R.K. Narayan. Tarun had joined us by now and I ventured to ask Naipaul if he was looking forward to Goa. “It sounds very exhausting,’ he said, looking up at Tarun Tejpal. “I am getting too old for this kind of caper.” He had just celebrated his 80th birthday and looked quite fed up, literally and figuratively, barely an hour into our private dinner. I got up before Fearless or Fearsome Nadira returned to boss over him, and left with no feeling at all of having met the literary genius who wrote A House for Mr Biswas,   The Enigma of Arrival and In a Free State. As a writer, he was a giant. As a person, he was far less than the sum of his fame. I was immediately reminded of a passage in the obituary on him in the New York Times. “Naipaul was a difficult man. He cultivated an air of superciliousness. He treated interviewers the way cats treat mice, condescending to them and pouncing on their, in his view, naïve and ridiculous questions.” Quite.

2024 Lok Sabha Elections

Rahul Gandhi says Kejriwal will vote for Congress and he will vote for AAP

Gandhi said that if the prime minister comes in front of him, he would ask him questions about crony capitalism, unemployment, inflation, and farm issues.

Published

on

Rahul Gandhi says Kejriwal will vote for Congress, and he will vote for AAP

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was addressing an election rally on Saturday where he said that Arvind Kejriwal will vote for a Congress candidate and that he will vote for an AAP candidate in Delhi in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections as a mark of strong bond between the two allies.

He further added workers of Congress and of AAP to work together to ensure the victory of their alliance in all 7 Lok Sabha seats in the national capital. In his address, Gandhi also challenged Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a debate concerning the issues of India. The Congress leader said he is ready to debate with PM Modi whenever and wherever he wants, but he was confident that PM Modi would not come.

Notably, former Supreme Court judges Madan B Lokur and Ajit P Shah and senior journalist N Ram had written to Gandhi and PM Modi recently and invited them to a platform for a debate on the key Lok Sabha election issues. Gandhi said that if the prime minister comes in front of him, he would ask him questions about crony capitalism, unemployment, inflation, and farm issues.

The Wayanad MP said in his address that PM Modi has only worked for 22-25 people. He asked small businessmen from Chandni Chowk, what PM Modi had done for them? He said demonetization, GST, and other taxes had impacted small businessmen. He said billions of rupees of Adani and Ambani had been waived off. Gandhi said BJP is privatising railways and other PSUs as well.

The former Congress president questioned the prime minister about introducing the now-scrapped electoral bond scheme and further accused him of extorting money with the help of central agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate (ED). Gandhi reffered to Delhi as the Brotherhood Capital and said that if people work together with love, there is progress.

Continue Reading

2024 Lok Sabha Elections

PM Modi calls for a strong government, says even enemies think 100 times before doing anything

PM Modi pointed out that Pakistan had been troubling India for 70 years and it had bombs in its hands. But today the situation has changed and it has begging bowl in its hands. He said when there is a strong government, enemies tremble

Published

on

PM Modi calls for a strong government, says even enemies think 100 times before doing anything

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed an election rally in Haryana’s Ambala on Saturday and said India’s enemies think 100 times before doing anything against the country when there is a strong government at the Centre. Haryana, which has a total of 10 Lok Sabha seats, will vote in the 6th phase on May 25. In 2019 elections BJP claimed victory in all 10 seats.

PM Modi pointed out that Pakistan had been troubling India for 70 years and it had bombs in its hands. But today the situation has changed and it has begging bowl in its hands. He said when there is a strong government, enemies tremble. Addressing the election rally at Ambala the prime minister asked if a weak government could have changed the situation in Jammu & Kashmir? He recalled the times when there was a Congress government and brave mothers of Haryana used to be worried day and night. He said it has been 10 years now and all of that has stopped.

PM Modi recounted BJP government’s achievements and said they had demolished the wall of Article 370 and Kashmir started moving on the path of development. The prime minister said that a total of 17 days remain to go for 4th June.  He further added that until now in 4 phases of elections, Congress and the INDI Alliance, chaaron khaane chitt ho chuke hain. He said whatever tactics the INDI Alliance used for the country have all been beaten by the public itself.

Addressing the election rally PM Modi said Haryana is a state which has patriotism in its veins and knows anti-national forces very well. The prime minister guaranteed to the people that their dreams are his resolution. PM Modi said there are 4 pillars of Viksit Bharat – poor, youth, women and farmers and he wants to strengthen all these pillars in such a way that the nation becomes strong.

Continue Reading

2024 Lok Sabha Elections

Mallikarjun Kharge accuses PM Modi of inciting people and dividing society through his election speeches

Kharge said no prime minister before Modi has ever indulged in inciting people like he has been doing. He said the prime minister speaks about democracy repeatedly but does not adhere to the tenets of democracy.

Published

on

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for inciting people and dividing society through his election speeches. Kharge was addressing a press conference of the INDIA bloc, where Shiv Sena (UBT) president, Uddhav Thackeray NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar and other leaders were present.

Kharge said no prime minister before Modi has ever indulged in inciting people like he has been doing. He said the prime minister speaks about democracy repeatedly but does not adhere to the tenets of democracy. Responding to PM Modi’s statement that the Congress will bulldoze the Ram mandir in Ayodhya and also restore Article 370 if the INDIA bloc is voted to power Kharge said, they have never used a bulldozer on anyone. The Congress president said PM Modi has the habit of lying and inciting people about things which Congress will never do or the things that are impossible to be implemented.

Kharge further added that he is not answerable to Modi and the Congress will implement what they have promised in their election manifesto. He accused PM Modi of creating divisions wherever he went he tries to create division, speaks of dividing society. Kharge further added that PM Modi had described the Congress manifesto as Muslim League manifesto, but now he is calling it as a Maoist manifesto.

The Congress President assured that reservation has been enshrined in the Constitution which will continue and nobody can touch it. Speaking at the press conference Thackeray said, Achche din are coming from June 4 (when Lok Sabha election results will be declared) when INDIA bloc-led government will come to power at the centre. Thackeray pointed out PM Modi calls Shiv Sena (UBT) as the nakli (fake) Shiv Sena, and there is a possibility that tomorrow he may call RSS as nakli Sangh.  

Continue Reading

Trending

-->

© Copyright 2022 APNLIVE.com