The tabloid-literature nexus
Stories from Indian tabloids in the ’70s remind me of plot lines in novels 30 years later.
Protima Bedi’s streaking past Flora Fountain and Juhu Beach for a photo shoot which launched Cine Blitz magazine:
“I asked her if she would streak across the streets of Mumbai and she agreed. We decided upon doing it early in the morning when the roads are deserted…
“We had the first photosession at the Flora Fountain. But Protima was unhappy with the pictures. She said that her breasts were sagging and she asked for a reshoot. So, the other shoot was done at the Juhu beach.” [Link]
Nekkid NSFW photos here. Bedi was a rule-breaker:
Protima Bedi opened the first disc in Bombay, which soon turned into a haunt for charsis and drug freaks. She writes that she made joints and sold them illegally to freaks and soon enough, the police closed down Hide Out. [Link]
Protima married and divorced Kabir Bedi, turned Odissi dancer and died in a landslide on a Himalayan pilgrimage in ‘98. Her body was missing for several days. Perhaps this too inspired the end of Veena Apsara in The Ground Beneath Her Feet, the Eurydice-like nymph who was swallowed by the earth.
Beauty queen Pamela Bordes’ liaisons with politicians and gunrunners reminds me of the Zoya Mirza character in Sacred Games:
Pamela Bordes’ scandalous love affair with a leading Tory MP in the 1980s rocked [the] UK… Bordes swung further to connect with… Libyan leader Colonel Gadaffi’s closest aides, Ahmed Gadaff Al Daim, [traveling] often to… Tripoli in a private jet… Soon her social circle included arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi and the Emir of Qatar. It was during one of her tours to Paris [that] she met her [future husband] Henri Bordes… Bordes was a convicted arms dealer…
From Jaipur to Paris, her stepping stone was the Miss India crown she won in 1982… Her dangerous liaisons resulted in a scarred face when acid was thrown on her and she took years to recover. [Link]
As an aside, it’s hard to imagine Palika in central Delhi as the backdrop for a love-in:
… Westerners braving six-day bus rides via Afghanistan and Pakistan would come to Delhi in search of that eastern oriental magic. Hundreds of young men and women would sit stoned in what is now Palika making love in the open under the starry, starry sky. [Link]
on Friday, September 1st, 2006, 4:29 pm in History, Literature › 
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I haven’t heard of any other streaking incidents other than Protima’s . Peta could do one of those ‘no fur’ shows if there are enough volunteers.
What would Shiv Sena do ? (TM)
great observation Manish..
I always thought Rushdie’s veena apsara and the whole story of ground beneath the feet must be an inspiration from some singer like cher…but this is interesting… protima Bedi interesting…I remember thinking about Lalu and jayalalitha and indira gandhi and some indian political figures in some chapters of Ground beneath the feet and also may be midnights children…
I felt that Rushdie’s fury was autobiographical..one of his wives and his own failed marriage story except for the fact that a writer became a doll maker..
Naipauls writings for most part “willie” seem his own experiences kind of autobiographical..and some what inspired by Gandhi’s south africa life and life in england except that Gandhi struck to his roots of vegetarianism and indian conservative hindu beliefs while Naipauls willie is opposite to Gandhi and he explored life.. Like in Naipauls Magic seeds willie is anti Gandhi joining naxalities and failing totally to fit into indian politics and life..I talked to a editor of a big telugu news paper who told me naipaul went to Ap,india, interviewed journalists like the editor I knew and met or interviewed naxalites to write magic seeds..
vikram seths new novel “two lives” is inspired by his aunt and uncle..
I remember reading Hari kunzrus interview posted in ur blog where he said that his own cousin in india who ran software business inspired him to write one of the main characters.
Aynrand writes in her book “Journals of Aynrand” how she created John galt, Howard Roark based on some people she met in life..
There are people like James Michener who write after digging history on places or people and create fiction based on historical events or history of cities and make it realistic with descriptions of characters or places which are closer to reality and are well researched..
its interesting to figure out or guess what inspires writers to create a particular story line or scene and kind of characters they create…
Great observation Manish, wont it be wonderful if u get to meet Rushdie sometime and ask him if that really inspired him…