Naipaul

Sir Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul was one of the the most celebrated example of diaspora under colonial rule. The inherent contradictions of his roots, his upbringing , his education, his intellect and above all his talent and fame perhaps remained unreconciled in his personality. Maybe that was good to be in a sense that it only accentuated his literary genius.

Naipaul remained fascinated with his roots . Yet he was quite ruthless in his examination of the Indian society. Not exactly a bitter pill like Neerad C Choudhury but in a more patronising way.

He was from Trinidad and begun his literary career with a distinct Caribbean flavour . But soon he found out that the West Indies could not give him the wide canvas to explore by going back into history. In his own words - "The history of the islands can never be told satisfactorily. Brutality is not the only difficulty. History is built around achievement and creation; and nothing was created in the West Indies."

His visit to India in the early sixties made him more in sync to the realities of poverty, religion, myths and all other socio cultural aspects related to India. His book - An area of darkness stands out for the observations made by him . Then again in India - a wounded civilisation , he brought forth the problems and complexities that were legacy issues. I have read both these books and they are quite riveting. Both of them were non fiction books but his writing style has the flavour of literature never bores the reader .

Of his fictions, I have read The mystic masseur, A house for Mr Biswas and A bend in the river. His writing style evolved over the years but it was so engaging to readers. A distinct colonial touch, wonderful prose , flowing words , descriptive imagery and above all a dignified grace marked his literature. In my personal opinion , he richly deserved the Nobel Prize. 

Let me end with the farewell message to him tweeted by none other than Salman Rushdie , which brought the news of his death to me.

"We disagreed all our lives, about politics, about literature, and I feel as sad as if I just lost a beloved older brother. RIP Vidia. #VSNaipaul"