With his white beard, pointed nose and large glasses, Salman Rushdie cuts a stem, intimidating figure. Neither his television appearances for his inventions give away any sign of pressure or fear. It’s hard to imagine that for over 10 years, the author was living under the shadow of a fatwa, a death sentence, and was on the hit list of the terrorist group, Al-Qaeda.
Writing satires which blends fiction with reality, Rushdie has often been thrown into the midst of controversies. But the novelist’s work speaks for itself. With his new book, Quichotte shortlisted for the Booker Prize for fiction, here’s a look at his amazing literacy journey.
Early life
When Rushdie was just 10, he wrote his first story. It was a dozen pages long, and its protagonist was a boy who lived in Bombay and found the beginning of a rainbow, as broad and wide as a staircase. Though Rushdie never managed to finish this story, he went on to write 12 critically acclaimed novels, children’s books, essays and a whole lot more.
Rushdie was born on June 19, 1947 in Bombay in a Muslim family of Kashmiri descent. His mother was a teacher, while his father worked as a lawyer and a businessman. Rushdie attended the Cathedral and John Connon School, a repute school in Mumbai, where he impressed his classmates and teachers with his exemplary vocabulary and flair for writing. When he was offered a scholarship by the prestigious Balliol College, Oxford, Rushdie turned it down, choosing to attend Cambridge University, his father’s alma mater instead.
Advertising success
Before becoming a full-time writer, Rushdie tried his hand at acting and production, but without success. He took up a job with an advertising firm in London. His slogan Aero chocolate bars “irresistible” earned him praise from the advertising industry. However Rushdie wanted to focus on writing and so he quit his job to write a novel. The endeavor failed and he went back to writing advertising copy.
Library recognition
It was with his second book midnight’s children in 1981 that his writing career took off. Written in the magic realism style, the book follows the life of a child, born at the stroke of midnight on August 15, 1947, who is endowed with special powers and a connection to other children born on the same historic occasion. Midnight’s children won the Booker prize. In 1993, the book won the Booker of bookers which was a special award given on the 25th anniversary of the price. Nearly 15 years later, Rushdie was also awarded the Best of the Booker’s, which mark the 40th birthday of the Booker in 2008. But his fourth book, Satanic verses, embroiled him in a controversy which almost cost him his life
Life threatened
The book was banned in 13 countries, including India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. In 1989, this spiritual leader of Iran Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa on Radio Tehran for Rushdie’s execution. Violence and riots erupted around the world, people burnt copies of the book and took out rallies. There were even several failed assassination attempts on his life, forcing Rushdie to live under police protection for 10 years with the help of the British government.
Writing for children
Even while he was in hiding, Rushdie didn’t stop writing. He forayed into the realm of children’s literature with his book Haroun and the Sea of stories in 1990. He dedicated the book to his elder son Zafar, who was 10 then. The book is believed to be autobiographical, a representation of his thoughts and feelings when he was in hiding. In 2010 he wrote another children’s book, Luka and Fire of life for his younger son, Milan. Both books revolve around a family headed by a storyteller Rashid Khalifa, living in the city of Alif Bat: a city so sad that it has forgotten its own name.
Free at last
Finally in 1998, Iran partially lifted the fatwa against Rushdie. He declared that he would stop living in hiding and was granted a visa to finally visit India in 1999. Despite this, it was reported in 2006 that the fatwa cannot be withdrawn fully as Khoemeini, who had issued it was dead.
Magic realism and satire
Rushdie is known for his magic realism style of writing. Magic realism is a literacy technique in which the story take place in the real world, but it has a magical element. Other authors who use this technique include Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Orhan Pamuk. Rushdie’s works are also heavily satirical. Satire is a form of writing which ridiculous and criticises a government or an institution.
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