Sitara - It is very interesting to read your comments. This is the first time I have read Rushdie with any seriousness - as I mentioned earlier, I stayed away from him after a bruising experience with the Satanic Verses during my adolescence. But I must say I am quite suprised by his ability to express a certain depth of thought in a somewhat light-hearted manner at times. Call it beginers enthusiasm but I have begun to like him both in style and substance. I still haven't wiped the dust off the Kite Runner - it's been lying on my bookshelf for a while now :P