Kolkata, Jan 15 (IANS) Admitting he was fortunate his book "The Great Indian Novel" wasn't banned when it released 25 years ago, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor Thursday said there is a trend of "mounting intolerance" in India today and he was not confident if the same book would have survived in this age.
"The Great Indian Novel" was one of the first of its kind in India 25 years ago that poked fun satirically at both the hallowed heroes of the nationalist movement and also timeless legends of the great legend Mahabharata, said Tharoor, the bestselling author of 15 books, both fiction and non-fiction.
"When the book came out, initially it was rather rapturously received in India because I had signed a separate contract with David Davidar to do an affordable Indian edition and it was very well received.
"To my both delight and horror the doyen of Indian writing at that time Khushwant Singh devoted an entire column to this book but he said , 'Go out and buy this book immediately because it will be banned within a week' a that was not what I wanted to see," Tharoor said during a discussion at a literary festival here.
Published in 1989, the novel penned by Tharoor was his first work in fiction. 2014 marked its 25th anniversary.
However, he remarked, "There has been a lot of mounting intolerance that perhaps wasn't there 25 years ago."
Tharoor said he had to make some "very minor changes" to the manuscript since the publisher was facing the heat (in 1989) due to author Salman Rushdie's fatwa.
"I don't know what saved me, had Indians suddenly become more mature or was it simply because the kinds of people who banned books were not trying to read English language books in 1989.
"I was lucky the book didn't get banned and thereafter, I haven't looked back and worried about censorship or anything like that though I have written against the subsequent emanations of intolerance that we have seen with other writers," said Tharoor.
Tharoor, a former union minister, said he was quizzed by someone whether the book could have been written today and replied that he "couldn't in all honesty assert with all confidence that it would have survived in the present climate of mounting intolerance that we seem to be living with, in our country".
The village of pro-democracy monks was set ablaze by the Myanmar army last year in 2021. This is
Bollywood actor Kartik Aryan excited his fans by attending the Filmfare Awards held in Gujarat on
No hustle and bustle this time as Kejriwal reaches office
New Delhi, Feb 14 (IANS) There was no reprise of the hustle and bustle seen when AAP-1 assumed
World-class tourism infrastructure in twelve cities soon
New Delhi, March 9 (IANS) The tourism ministry will develop world class infrastructure in twelv
These days, Bollywood actor Vikrant Massey is enjoying the success of his film '12th Fail'. The a
What if UP becomes Kerala? Adityanath asked; Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan replied
On the day of voting for the first phase of the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, a debate has br
Today is the 28th day of the Russia-Ukraine war. Amid the war, a verbal counterattack between Ame
G-7 Meeting: Focus on Indo-Pacific and Russia-Ukraine War; Joe Biden met Modi in a different way
The G-7 summit took place on Monday at the Schloss Elmau Palace in Germany. Prime Minister Narend
After Ex-CM, Rajasthan's Home Minister hit by Swine Flu
Jaipur, Feb 2 (IANS) Rajasthan Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria Monday tested positive for the
Moderate intensity tremor jolts Kashmir
Srinagar, Feb 27 (IANS) A moderate-intensity earthquake Friday jolted Kashmir although no loss
