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Ameena Meer: When I was in India, I did an article on English-language theater in Delhi and I found there was a great dearth of writers writing in English, and not just plays, anything. Salman Rushdie: I’ve changed my mind about all this. I used to think that English would remain a very vital artistic language in India. I now have serious doubts about that. You’re right, there’s very little. When I say that there are one or two writers around, literally there are one or two, and we all notice when they arrive. There’s nothing else so you notice a new building because there was an empty space. AM: I thought it was strange that people weren’t writing in English because most of my Indian friends don’t speak Hindi, or the local language, very well. Most of them failed their Hindi exams at University. SR: There is that educational divide, between English medium and Hindi medium. English is the language of the University-educated class, really. But I’m not optimistic about the future of English as an artistic language. English has to remain in India at certain levels, it’s very important in business, the legal system. It’s very important in science and technology. It’s indispensable in those fields. As a result, it’ll survive. But for it to survive as a language of song and poetry, I can’t see it. —BOMB 27, 1989

Ameena Meer: When I was in India, I did an article on English-language theater in Delhi and I found there was a great dearth of writers writing in English, and not just plays, anything.

Salman Rushdie: I’ve changed my mind about all this. I used to think that English would remain a very vital artistic language in India. I now have serious doubts about that. You’re right, there’s very little. When I say that there are one or two writers around, literally there are one or two, and we all notice when they arrive. There’s nothing else so you notice a new building because there was an empty space.

AM: I thought it was strange that people weren’t writing in English because most of my Indian friends don’t speak Hindi, or the local language, very well. Most of them failed their Hindi exams at University.

SR: There is that educational divide, between English medium and Hindi medium. English is the language of the University-educated class, really. But I’m not optimistic about the future of English as an artistic language. English has to remain in India at certain levels, it’s very important in business, the legal system. It’s very important in science and technology. It’s indispensable in those fields. As a result, it’ll survive. But for it to survive as a language of song and poetry, I can’t see it.

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