02-27-2004, 12:46 AM
<b>India shining, Naipaul speechless</b>
NILANJANA BHADURI JHA/TIMESOFINDIA.COM
[ THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2004 08:28:42 PM ]
NEW DELHI: A thumbs up for India Shining, curt dismissal for Sonia Gandhi. It's fortunate Sir Vidya does not need to say much to communicate. He doesn't get a word in edgeways when his wife takes over.
Sir V S Naipaul
So it was at the BJP party office here on Thursday after the Nobel laureate met members of the party's cultural cell.
Outside, he wouldn't say so in so many words, begging off from answering whether he endorsed the view that India was shining for he wouldn't comment on something "so blatantly political."
But inside, at the meeting, he talked about a "resurgent economy and education" in the country. Also, that there was a "new passion" in the BJP and that "I want to encourage... that is why I came here."
Those present at the meeting said he was probably researching for his next book. He discussed history at length and the controversy over the rewriting of it.
But for most part, those at the meeting said, Naipaul chose to listen rather than speak, making periodic remarks. The level of discussion, they said, was low.
Perhaps that is why Naipaul was taciturn after the meeting. Perhaps, to avoid uncomfortable questions on why he was meeting the BJP. He needn't have bothered. When he attempted to answer questions from a clamouring posse of mediamen, his wife, Lady Nadira, asked him to "keep quiet, let me answer."
And then hell hath no fury like <b>Lady Nadira: "What is wrong if we wish to come to the BJP cultural cell? What is so spectacular that you should gather this way? My husband writes about India, the BJP is in power and we are observers." </b>
Attempts to assuage fell on deaf ears. Instead, she said: "He is an independent observer, he has been invited here. He is not a politician."
So what was he doing at the office of a political party? "He's in the public domain, he can be appropriated by anyone," Nadira said. "<b>Who stopped the liberals from doing so?" </b>
<b>One of the most acerbic men of words in the world stood by, meekly. He did answer though when asked what he thought of a foreigner not being allowed to be Prime Minister. "I think it's a proposal worth considering. Americans have rules about who can be President." </b>
But nothing on Babri, for he felt he had answered that a number of times. In any case, Lady Nadira had something to say again. She had last left an audience stunned when she took on Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani at the first Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas last year. Naipaul has been making frequent trips to India recently.
And then, as they had emerged, the couple swiftly turned back in a flurry of injured dignity. Lady Nadira threateningly promising to get back to a persistent scribe.
A little distance away, a bloated balloon - shaped like a lotus and with a man inside who is paid Rs 100 to walk up and down - stood stunned at the heady dose of celebrity.
NILANJANA BHADURI JHA/TIMESOFINDIA.COM
[ THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2004 08:28:42 PM ]
NEW DELHI: A thumbs up for India Shining, curt dismissal for Sonia Gandhi. It's fortunate Sir Vidya does not need to say much to communicate. He doesn't get a word in edgeways when his wife takes over.
Sir V S Naipaul
So it was at the BJP party office here on Thursday after the Nobel laureate met members of the party's cultural cell.
Outside, he wouldn't say so in so many words, begging off from answering whether he endorsed the view that India was shining for he wouldn't comment on something "so blatantly political."
But inside, at the meeting, he talked about a "resurgent economy and education" in the country. Also, that there was a "new passion" in the BJP and that "I want to encourage... that is why I came here."
Those present at the meeting said he was probably researching for his next book. He discussed history at length and the controversy over the rewriting of it.
But for most part, those at the meeting said, Naipaul chose to listen rather than speak, making periodic remarks. The level of discussion, they said, was low.
Perhaps that is why Naipaul was taciturn after the meeting. Perhaps, to avoid uncomfortable questions on why he was meeting the BJP. He needn't have bothered. When he attempted to answer questions from a clamouring posse of mediamen, his wife, Lady Nadira, asked him to "keep quiet, let me answer."
And then hell hath no fury like <b>Lady Nadira: "What is wrong if we wish to come to the BJP cultural cell? What is so spectacular that you should gather this way? My husband writes about India, the BJP is in power and we are observers." </b>
Attempts to assuage fell on deaf ears. Instead, she said: "He is an independent observer, he has been invited here. He is not a politician."
So what was he doing at the office of a political party? "He's in the public domain, he can be appropriated by anyone," Nadira said. "<b>Who stopped the liberals from doing so?" </b>
<b>One of the most acerbic men of words in the world stood by, meekly. He did answer though when asked what he thought of a foreigner not being allowed to be Prime Minister. "I think it's a proposal worth considering. Americans have rules about who can be President." </b>
But nothing on Babri, for he felt he had answered that a number of times. In any case, Lady Nadira had something to say again. She had last left an audience stunned when she took on Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani at the first Pravasi Bharatiya Diwas last year. Naipaul has been making frequent trips to India recently.
And then, as they had emerged, the couple swiftly turned back in a flurry of injured dignity. Lady Nadira threateningly promising to get back to a persistent scribe.
A little distance away, a bloated balloon - shaped like a lotus and with a man inside who is paid Rs 100 to walk up and down - stood stunned at the heady dose of celebrity.