Sridhar Ko Gussa Kyon Ata Hai

I read Mrs. Meena Kandasamy's onslaught on V S Naipaul. She calls him a casteist, communalist and racist. I'm not going to comment on her views as the readers of this blog know that I like Naipaul and also subscribe to his views. But her outrage on Naipaul's works have got me thinking on different lines. It particularly reminded me of my outpour against Vinod Mehta some two years ago. I sent it to Outlook. It came back. I would never have lived with dignity if it has been published.

My essays used to contain sheer anger. If I do not subscribe to your views, or more so if your views have got me agitated, you must be either dumb or devious.

I must consider myself more sobered down now. I do not especially react to Vinod Mehta's witty remarks which I used to dump as 'pseudo-secular'. On the contrary, I find myself often agreeing to various arguments for which I would have blown the hell a few years ago.

My reflections on Meena Kandasamy's essay should have several implications to my writing and my own arguments. Because of the way I place my views, I get easily branded. Examples include two recent events where I was asked which party I belong to before I join a discussion on politics and another where I was asked to place my conclusions on the table before I speak on Sankaracharya.

Such things remind me that I must be careful in placing my views be it on paper or verbal. And I must learn to be original. On Sankaracharya, I was airing borrowed views and I didn't like myself for that.

Especially considering that I must be the torchbearer for anti-plagiarism in India.