Rushdie , Hussein, Taslima.. et.all

I see a common paradigm, a pattern in Rushdie, Hussein, Taslima et.all. They are all iconoclasts. They did not refrain from attacking the established beliefs and dogma of the society. Take the case of M F Hussein who painted Hindu Goddesses in a derogatory manner in the name of art. Take the case of Taslima Nasreen who gave unbridled references to her private life in her autobiography. Her descriptions of atrocities on women in a riot-ridden village in her debut novel ‘Lajja’, were provocative to say the least. What midnights children could not achieve for Salman Rushdie was amply accomplished by Satanic verses. That is, huge publicity & controversy. .


(In fact, I could not turn more than four pages when I started reading ‘The midnights children’. Of course I am no connoisseur of literary works.)

The pattern here is all of them seek and attempt for publicity.

Now I would like to take an absolutely queer reference here. That of Poonam Pandey. She is a nationally known figure today. Not for any merit but for reasons we all know about. So in a way, Rushdie and co. are Poonam Pandeys of a different field. Willing to strip if it serves their purpose of getting attention. I am reminded of one more literary figure in this connection. Mr. Rajendra Yadav, a noted figure of Hindi Sahitya, who has successfully kept himself controversial over all these years.

We may criticize these people but hardly can we deny that we are interested. Great Khushwant Singh attempted the same plank in eighties (of course earlier too) and circulation of the illustrated weekly soared to great heights. We all want to be titillated and better if it is in some form of controversy.

The point here is not that we all seek attention. It is already a fact however much we may deny. Attention, recognition, acceptance, even approval is the basic need of everyone. Even a plant or a pet can not grow healthy if it isn’t bestowed upon enough attention.

The point here is, not many people dare!

I personally feel that merit comes later. Prior to it is the issue of daring. The common pattern here is not that all of them sought publicity but that all of them dared too! They attempted to give expression to their innermost desire. They ventured at the cost of being ridiculed, opposed, denigrated or rejected. That makes the difference. Things do not come in shape by mere merit & talent. Life demands daring. Sometimes daring brings all other things in tow.