tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2823892684510738201.post6055790351892377645..comments2023-12-24T06:48:34.151+00:00Comments on Sunny Singh Online: Onward, Sir Salman: In support of knighthood for luminous proseSunny Singhhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02687722552329432572noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2823892684510738201.post-32624779164707746152007-07-18T15:24:00.000+01:002007-07-18T15:24:00.000+01:00Just thought you would like to see the response to...Just thought you would like to see the response to Rushdie's knighthood on a SA literature discussion forum: "Years ago I wrote that Rushdie (and indeed all writers) had a duty to censor themselves when they knew their writings would be provocative and even inflammatory and cause the death of innocents...Rushdie was raised a Muslim and experienced life and religious fanaticism at first hand in both India and Pakistan. He should have known better, said, "The hell with it!" and went after the dollar. And now he is a knight! British honors can be bought, but whether he bought his knighthood or was awarded it, the list has been cheapened."<BR/><BR/>It made me very angry to read this. I hope it angers you too.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2823892684510738201.post-10874585869958452262007-07-12T22:17:00.000+01:002007-07-12T22:17:00.000+01:00Once again I have allowed an idiot to post their (...Once again I have allowed an idiot to post their (anonymous) comment here basically because I believe in freedom of speech. <BR/><BR/>For the record, I also think that stoning shows immense COWARDICE because it relies on mob fury and grants anonymity to those who have no courage to stand alone and take responsibility for their violence. But those who threaten to kill writers cant be expected to be anything but cowards.Sunny Singhhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02687722552329432572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2823892684510738201.post-52425106698624210452007-07-10T12:13:00.000+01:002007-07-10T12:13:00.000+01:00Well said Sunny, I too use these terms and they sh...Well said Sunny, I too use these terms and they shouldn't be isolated from the context and used to create hysteria.<BR/><BR/>Sunny, thanks for the comment on my blog. The word "unsullied" was not used in the context of "giving birth to child" it was a comment about her general appearance. <BR/><BR/>JAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12219760381898565039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2823892684510738201.post-41120443294436421772007-07-03T00:34:00.000+01:002007-07-03T00:34:00.000+01:00Rana, I have posted your comment as part of my bel...Rana, I have posted your comment as part of my belief in freedom of expression. Unfortunately, unlike Rushdie, you have no ability to use that freedom of expression either creatively nor powerfully. So just to clarify, I DO stand by my appreciation of what Rushdie has written. You see, I DO use words like cunt, chootia, mother fucker etc (maderchod, behenchod) to describe monsters who make up much of the world polity! Best regardsSunny Singhhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02687722552329432572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2823892684510738201.post-48689783018141825832007-07-02T17:21:00.000+01:002007-07-02T17:21:00.000+01:00Dear Sunny,I think you should take some time out o...Dear Sunny,<BR/><BR/>I think you should take some time out of your busy schedule to read his book The Satanic Verses and then you will come to know about the true reality. Let me help you out and give you some examples out of this books. And if after reading that you still keep the same idea to give freedom of expression to that person, then one simple thing...... GOD BLESS YOU.<BR/>1- The word 'Fuck' has been used total 60 times in the book at following pages: 27, 54, 80, 87, 100, 101, 109, 149, 158, 159(2 times), 163(2 times), 178(3 times), 179, 180(2 times), 207, 245, 260, 261, 262, 265, 268(6 times), 269(2 times), 270(4 times), 271, 278, 285, 306, 313, 351, 380, 410, 412, 421, 429, 430, 435, 441(6 times), 448, 479, 526. <BR/>The word 'Bastard' has been used total 49 times on the following pages: 1, 8, 19, 51, 56, 59, 68(2 times), 73, 80(2 times), 86, 95, 105, 116(2 times), 122, 137(3 times), 142, 164, 169, 174, 198, 256, 259, 266, 268, 280(2 times), 281, 284, 285, 316, 326, 359, 367, 376, 418, 425, 430, 436, 448, 467, 511, 520, 537, 539. <BR/><BR/>2- The word 'Cunt' has been used total 6 times on the following pages: 163, 389(2 times), 441(3 times).<BR/> <BR/>3- The word 'Haramzada' (bastard in urdu) has been used total 2 times on the following pages: 27, 207. <BR/><BR/>4-The word 'Mother Fucking' has been used total 3 times on the following pages: 80, 85, 122. <BR/><BR/>5-The word 'Sister Fucking' has been used total 1 times on the following pages:80. <BR/><BR/>6-The word 'Chootia' has been used total 1 times on the following pages: 80. <BR/><BR/>7-The word 'Maggie the Bitch' has been used total 1 times on the following pages:269. <BR/><BR/>8-The word 'Damn all Indians' has been used total 1 times on the following pages:137. <BR/><BR/>9-The word to describe UK as 'Coffin of an Island ' has been used total 1 times on the following pages:146. <BR/><BR/>10-The word 'Mother Fucking Americans' has been used total 1 times on the following pages:80. <BR/><BR/>11-The word 'Sister Fucking British' has been used total 1 times on the following pages:80. <BR/><BR/>12-The word 'Angrez Bastards' has been used total 1 times on the following pages:59. <BR/><BR/>13-The word 'White Bastards' has been used total 1 times on the following pages:284. <BR/>14- The word 'Shiv Sena Bastards' has been used total 1 times on the following pages:537. <BR/><BR/>15- 'Nigger eat white man's shit' has been used total 1 times on the following pages:461. <BR/><BR/>16-'White woman never mind fat Jewish, non-deferential white women – were for fucking and throwing' has been used total 1 times on the following pages:261. <BR/><BR/>17- Remarks about Hindu Gods: On Page 24 “After six movies playing the elephant headed god he was permitted to remove the thick, pendulous, grey mask and put on, instead a long hairy tail, I order to play Hanuman the monkey king in a sequence of adventure movies that owed more to a certain cheap television series emanating from Hong Kong than it did to the Ramayana. This series proved so popular that monkey-tail became de rigueur for the city's young bucks at the kind of parties frequented by convent girls known as 'firecrackers' because of their readiness to go off with a bang.” Further on page 25, “ ‘Even before he replaced false head with fake tail he had become irresistibly attractive to women. The seduction of his fame had grown so great that several of these young ladies asked him if he would keep the Ganesh-mask on while they made love but he refused out of the dignity of the God’. <BR/><BR/>18- Remarks about Queen on Page 169, “… he found himself dreaming of the queen, of making tender love to the Monarch. She was the body of Britain, the avatar of the State, and he had chosen her, joined with her; she was his Beloved, the moon of his delight”. <BR/><BR/>I hope you will think again whise standing beside that person again.<BR/><BR/>Regards<BR/><BR/>K RanaRanahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11471242211308718751noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2823892684510738201.post-74219684312109154462007-07-02T12:51:00.000+01:002007-07-02T12:51:00.000+01:00HI Sunny,Thanks for the post which thumbs nose at ...HI Sunny,<BR/><BR/>Thanks for the post which thumbs nose at the pseudos among Indian writers.<BR/><BR/>Thanks for the comment on my blog. I am linking to your blog and hope you do the same. My blog: http://johnpmathew.blogspot.com.<BR/><BR/>:)<BR/><BR/>JAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12219760381898565039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2823892684510738201.post-55691918863655800102007-06-28T15:19:00.000+01:002007-06-28T15:19:00.000+01:00Thanks Sundeep. Glad to know that I wasnt alone in...Thanks Sundeep. Glad to know that I wasnt alone in that early experience of Rushdie's prose.Sunny Singhhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02687722552329432572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2823892684510738201.post-74276631550699876672007-06-28T10:43:00.000+01:002007-06-28T10:43:00.000+01:00I remember I was in schools. Rushdie was everywher...I remember I was in schools. Rushdie was everywhere. He was on the television, in the print, on the radio. It was impossible to escape Rushdie. I laid my hands on the Midnight's Children. I hadn't read anything like this before. A novel in English, written by a writer of Indian origin. He made us proud. I too started nurturing a dream of becoming a writer like Rushdie. But due to many factors (laziness or maybe lack of imagination included)I am still away from the dream. But, I am delighted that you have lived your dream and have been published. With best wishes and regards.<BR/><BR/>Sundeep KumarSUNDEEP KUMARhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05718565020655073488noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2823892684510738201.post-5515272321804130612007-06-24T11:00:00.000+01:002007-06-24T11:00:00.000+01:00Love the post. It's so strange that somehow whenev...Love the post. <BR/><BR/>It's so strange that somehow whenever Rushdie emerges in popular culture, he ends up reduced to the Satanic Verses, whereas he is so much more than that. And like Michiel above, I can remember the first time I started reading Satanic Verses. I barely understood most of what was written, but somehow, the one thing that permeated through the writing was the sheer exuberance of his personality (never having met the man, I can only presume that it was such!) and the amazing extent of his imagination. For that, and that alone, he is worthy of honour, even if his more recent writing has proved to be a bit of a damp squib.<BR/><BR/>Have a shout out to your post on my blog - check it out!The Buddha Smiledhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13472786899198595245noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2823892684510738201.post-76419489268325928702007-06-20T13:46:00.000+01:002007-06-20T13:46:00.000+01:00Brilliantly put Sunny. I reread Satanic Verses eve...Brilliantly put Sunny. I reread Satanic Verses every now and then... never being quite sure which I like more (Midnight's Children, Haroun or...). And every time I read a different book, notice different things; I guess also understand different things. I remember reading it the first time, never having set foot in India, not knowing all that much about India, and certainly not understanding more than ten per cent of it. Yet, the preciseness, and the wildness, and the inovativeness of the prose, the text, the jumbling with words... of course I did notice that. It made me return again and again to his work. 'Fury' made me furious though, as it did so many others, and Shalimar only managed to intrigue me mildly, marginally, a little... I guess that is also why I like your statement that it wouldn't be so bad if all the hullabaloo would chase him into hiding again... back to writing that One book we are all waiting for. Alas, amen.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2823892684510738201.post-38778949613317737972007-06-20T01:23:00.000+01:002007-06-20T01:23:00.000+01:00brillant! i certainly wish the so called saviours ...brillant! i certainly wish the so called saviours of the faith would 'read' before they leapt. funny how they have to wait for an honour before they remember to 're-implement' that misguided faith vis-a-vis rushdie. and speaking of misguided: too bad they do not speak up just as loudly to the more pressing issues of human rights abuse in iraq, shi'a - sunni divisions and of course the good ol' qamis al usman (palestine). as always a pleasure to read ur writing.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2823892684510738201.post-17144287621798378812007-06-19T21:12:00.000+01:002007-06-19T21:12:00.000+01:00No, didn' mean to accuse you of being either one, ...No, didn' mean to accuse you of being either one, but couldn't resist the temptation to deliver a sermon... Commenting on somebody else's blog just brings out the self-righteous Puritan in me. <BR/>Cast your stones where ye may, sweetie.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2823892684510738201.post-44348475577763060562007-06-19T20:42:00.000+01:002007-06-19T20:42:00.000+01:00Thanks. Fortunately since I am neither Muslim nor ...Thanks. Fortunately since I am neither Muslim nor Christian, perhaps I could. (Just kidding) ;-)Sunny Singhhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02687722552329432572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2823892684510738201.post-25088730812714371102007-06-19T19:08:00.000+01:002007-06-19T19:08:00.000+01:00Wonderful post!Rushdie is a wonderful humanist wri...Wonderful post!<BR/>Rushdie is a wonderful humanist writer, one who happens to have been born Muslim. He has called for a Reformation of Islam, much like Christian dissidents before Martin Luther. The early Christian establishment was very much as brutal as the Muslim hard-liners are today with their critics, so the right wing needs to be careful about pretending that 'we're above all that'. Tolerance comes with maturity, and Christians shouldn't cast any stones at Muslims, whose religion is younger, but the vast majority of whom personify generosity & kindness.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com