To be an Indian author

To be an Indian author, do you have to be born in India? If yes, then V S Naipaul doesn’t qualify. Neither does Jhumpa Lahiri. But Salman Rushdie does. So does Jim Corbett.

To be an Indian author, do you have to be an Indian national? If yes, then V S Naipaul doesn’t qualify. Neither does Salman Rushdie. Nor Jhumpa Lahiri.

To be an Indian author, do you have to live in India, at least, for a couple of years? If yes, then V S Naipaul doesn’t qualify. Neither does Jhumpa Lahiri. But Salman Rushdie does. So does William Dalrymple and Gregory David Roberts.

Maybe, to be an Indian author, you just have to be born of Indian parents – or, have an Indian name. In which case, it’s goodbye to William Dalrymple and Gregory David Roberts. Though, Jim Corbett is considered an exception.