British India Economy

[dhu]

From the people's paper tehleka: VS Naipaul

<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->“And in England too?”

“Yes, England too. But English people see England as a great success – the complete reordering of a society which was shocking a hundred or so years ago. Dickensian England. The people were in rags, without fuel to keep warm. Berlin, St. Petersburg – they were the same – they all had sinks of appalling poverty. They’ve altered all that. It’s a great achievement. They are now happy.”

For once I can’t tell whether he is being ironical.

“You think they are happy?”

“Oh yes, they are happy. The only people who may be happier are the Bangladeshis. The outside world sees Bangladesh as a place of calamity. They have typhoons and floods and natural disasters. But when all these settle down and they rebuild the huts and houses in their villages, and the muezzin calls for prayers from the minaret in the evening, they know in their hearts that the infidel has been chased out of the land – and they are happy.”<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->