Growing up in India in the 1960s, I knew that America gave us wheat, and Britain gave us literature. One of my most vivid childhood memories is of watching Geoffrey Kendall’s Shakespearana troupe performing in my home town of Dehradun. Visiting my uncle in New Delhi, I saw a stack of elegant hardcovers on a table in his study, borrowed from the library of the British Council. Later, as a student at Delhi University, my own education in literature and history was largely shaped by the books from the same library. My uncle read V.S. Pritchett and A.J.P. Taylor. My preferences were for Anthony Powell and E.P. Thompson.
我成長於上世紀60年代的印度，我知道是美國人給了我們小麥，而英國人給了我們文學。我最深刻的童年記憶之一，便是在我的家鄉德拉敦觀看傑弗裏•肯德爾(Geoffrey Kendall)莎士比亞劇團的演出。去新德里看我叔叔時，我在他書房的桌上看到了一摞包裝考究的精裝書，這是他從英國文化協會(British Council)的圖書館裏借來的。後來，作爲一名德里大學(Delhi University)學生，我自學文學和歷史時主要就是依靠同一所圖書館的藏書。我的叔叔喜歡V.S 普里切特(V.S. Pritchett)和A.J.P. 泰萊(A.J.P. Taylor)。而我更鐘愛安東尼•鮑爾(Anthony Powell)和E.P.湯普森(E.P. Thompson)。