Withdrawal of "Such a Long Journey"

Short one today. I don’t jump into the controversy over withdrawing of “Such a Long Journey” by Rohington Mistry from the syllabus of the Bombay University’s B.A. curriculum. I think we are becoming too  sensitive to criticism. Whoever asked for the withdrawals should actually read the entire book not the parts that offend, or hear people saying that certain parts offend. I think too much is being dragged into the controversy unnecessarily.  Don’t you think? I would like to hear from you.

But, pray, bear this in mind. A novel is fiction first and then the truth. People consider novels as truth and truth as fiction, as in a novel. There is danger here, in interpretation. Let’s be a tolerant nation able to bear a bit of criticism, not a parochial and jingoistic nation.