How To Write About Rushdie

Begin with uncredited sentences describing his new book (“Rushdie draws on Indian mythology, LA fakery, Hindu culture and the limits of the English language to capture it all.”) taken from other newspaper reports such as this one in The Weekend Australian.

For good measure, throw in a quote from the author taken from the same source (without mentioning the source, natch): "One of my good fortunes as a writer is to have access to a lot of traditions -- and not just inside western culture, high or low."

Have five-minute conversations with the likes of Ruchir Joshi, Githa Hariharan, Amit Chaudhuri, Harish Trivedi and Rukmini Bhaya Nayar, hoping that they’ll say something controversial. Add a sentence such as: “Critics hate Rushdie's genre of 'magical realism' devoid of emotion" -- without mentioning which critics, what they’ve said and in what context.

To make Bachi Karkaria happy, add some puns such as “Sheikhspeer” and "Da Salman Rushdie Code”.

Top it off with a box containing a précis of Shalimar The Clown taken (again, without credit) from The Book Standard.

And voila: your piece is ready for The Delhi Times.