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Late Meeting with the Late Naipaul

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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.

Cricket news

T20 World Cup: Co-host West Indies receives terror threat from Pakistan

Cricket West Indies (CWI) CEO Jonny Graves said that the safety and security of everyone at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 is their number one priority.

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North Pakistan had issued a terror threat against the West Indies, who are co-hosting the T20 World Cup today, May 6. However, West Indies (CWI) assured the public that every safety measure has been done.

The Caribbean islands have received warnings about possible terror threats coming from North Pakistan, according to a trustworthy source with firsthand knowledge of the circumstances. From June 1 to June 29, the US and the West Indies will host the T20 World Cup.

World Cup matches in Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Guyana, Saint Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago will take place in the West Indies. In addition, there are matches in the US cities of Florida, New York, and Texas; however, there appears to be no danger to the games in the US. Barbados will host the final after the two semifinals are held in Trinidad and Guyana.

A source said that they are closely monitoring the situation and maintaining close communication with relevant authorities. Continuous evaluation of security measures is underway to ensure appropriate plans are in place to mitigate any identified risks, they added.

The severity of the problem has increased with the assignment of blame for the danger to IS Khorasan. Trinidad Prime Minister Keith Rowley said that security forces have protocols in place to handle any threats to matches.

As per the report, the Barbados regional security officials are monitoring potential threats to the ICC event in addition to the fact that intelligence of a potential threat to the World Cup has been received through Pro-Islamic State (Daesh) through the media group Nashir Pakistan.

Regarding India, the Men in Blue will face off against Ireland at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York in their season-opening match. On June 9, they will play their next game at the same location against their bitter rivals, Pakistan. The team captained by Rohit Sharma will play the United States in their subsequent game in New York, and then they will play Canada in their last group-stage encounter at the Central Broward Regional Park Stadium Turf Ground in Lauderhill, Florida.

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2024 Lok Sabha Elections

PM Modi says expiry date of BJD government in Odisha is June 4

The prime minister was addressing an election rally in Odisha’s Behrampur. The state of Odisha is going to Assembly as well as general elections simultaneously starting May 13.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that 2 Yagya are taking place together in Odisha – one to form a government in India and the other in the state. He was confident that the BJP will form the double-engine government in Odisha for the first time. The prime minister was addressing an election rally in Odisha’s Behrampur. The state of Odisha is going to Assembly as well as general elections simultaneously starting May 13. The counting of votes of both elections is going to take place on June 4.

PM Modi added that enthusiasm of the people shows that the double-engine government is going to be formed in Odisha for the first time. He further asserted that BJP does what it says. Therefore, after forming the government here, they will implement the declarations made in the manifesto with full force and this is Modi’s guarantee.

The prime minister further added that the expiry date of the BJD government in Odisha is written as June 4.  He said the BJP’s chief ministerial candidate for Odisha will be decided on 6th June. PM Modi predicted that the swearing-in ceremony of the BJP Chief Minister will be held in Bhubaneswar on June 10. He said today he had come to invite the people of Odisha to the swearing-in ceremony of the Chief Minister of the BJP government in the state.

PM Modi attacked Congress and Naveen Patnaik’s BJD and said that the people of the rich state have remained poor and both the parties are responsible for it. He said in Odisha, it was Congress for around 50 years, and BJD for around 25 years. The prime minister said everyone has seen the result. He added Odisha has a fertile land, mineral resources, sea coasts, a trade centre like that of Berhampur, culture, heritage and still, the people of this rich Odisha have remained poor. He asked who is responsible for this sin? The answer is Congress and BJD.

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India News

ED raids Jharkhand minister’s secretary, recovers Rs 20 crore from house help

Jharkhand minister’s secretary raided by ED, huge amount of cash recovered.

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The Enforcement Directorate on Monday, May 6, started conducting raids at several Ranchi sites, including the home of Sanjiv Lal, the minister for Jharkhand Alamgir Alam’s personal secretary. A substantial sum of money, estimated to be between Rs 20 to Rs 30 crore, was taken from Sanjiv Lal’s house help.

The majority of the money is in notes worth Rs 500, and authorities have also found some jewellery with it.

Alamgir Alam who is the minister for Rural Development in Jharkhand. The 70-year-old Congress leader serves as the legislator for the Pakur seat in Jharkhand.

Video captured officers from the central investigation unit removing bundles of banknotes from suitcases in a room.

In its investigation into reported corruption in Jharkhand’s rural development department, the ED has made headway. The chief engineer of the department, Virendra Ram, was taken into custody in February 2023 in relation to a money laundering case involving possible anomalies in the execution of government projects.

In November 2019, the state’s Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) filed a formal complaint after apprehending junior engineer Suresh Prasad Verma for receiving a bribe. A substantial quantity of cash was found in a Verma-owned home that his cousin Alok Ranjan, who is connected to Virendra Ram, was occupying during the ACB’s investigation.

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