The House In Solan That Brought Back Salman Rushdie

Anees Villa — locally called Purani Kothi — is a well-known residential building in Solan, the picturesque hill town about 45 km south of Himachal Pradesh’s capital Shimla. From a distance, it is a remarkable example of authentic colonial-era architecture, with a wide sliding roof, and wood, stone, and masonry work that is likely to catch the eye of a passerby.

But as you near it, disappointment is imminent. Its lawns are overrun with wild grass, weed, and untrimmed bushes. Several windows have broken glass, and crumbling wooden fittings reveal a story of neglect. It is obvious that the house has not been painted or repaired for years.   

Yet, back in 1992, this house suddenly became the centre of a lawsuit that stirred the curiosity of the locals.

Salman Rushdie, the famous British American author of Indian origin, filed a case in the Himachal Pradesh High Court in Shimla, claiming it was his ancestral property.

By then, Rushdie was already famous — and notorious.

His second novel, Midnight’s Children (1981), had won the Booker Prize. But his 1988 novel, The Satanic Verses, sparked outrage among Muslims all around the world — including India, Pakistan, and the UK, where Rushdie then lived. India became the first country to ban the book, and Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the then supreme leader of Iran, put out a fatwah calling for Rushdie and his publishers to be killed.

Rushdie was forced to go into hiding, as it became evident that he could be assassinated by Islamic fundamentalists.

On August 12 this year, as the 75-year-old novelist was about to give a public lecture in Chautauqua, New York, he was stabbed multiple times, allegedly by one Hadi Matar. (Matar, 24, an American of Lebanese descent, has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted murder.)

Since the attack, local journalists have started coming down to the villa in Solan to find out stories about Rushdie, said its janitor and caretaker, Govind Ram, 60. “The attack came as a shock,” he said.

Ram lives in one part of the six-bedroom villa with his family of four.

 

“I was paid a salary of Rs 1,700 per month,” he said. “The last instalment came in 2015-16 — Rs 8,000. After that, I have received nothing.”

Ram also bemoans the dilapidated condition of the building.

“The roof needs immediate repairs,” he said. “Every monsoon water seeps in through the large cracks. There are spots of black mould on the walls. The wooden fittings and even the structural woodwork are decaying.”

And yet, he recalls, quite vividly, the only time Rushdie had returned to this house.

It was on April 13, 2000. “His son Zafar was with him, and also his lawyer, Vijay T. Shankardass,” said Ram. “Rushdie got people to put up lights all over the villa. He kept going in and coming out. He was very happy and went all over the estate several times.”

He also remembers cooking an elaborate dinner, and how Rushdie and his guests were up all night, narrating nostalgic stories.

Rushdie wanted to make this villa a writers’ residency, said Rakesh Kanwar, secretary of language, art, and culture in the Himachal Pradesh government.

“We have not heard from him. This property could be utilised for literary activities,” said Kanwar, who was earlier deputy commissioner, Solan.

Till Rushdie filed the case in 1992, no one had any idea about its literary connections.

“The building was right next to the deputy commissioner’s residence and in the possession of the education department,” said former deputy commissioner of Solan, Vineet Chowdhary. “As there were no claimants, I passed orders to escheat the property to the government after following proper procedures.”

From 1993-96, it served as the official residence of Solan’s additional district magistrate. Arun Sharma was its first and last official occupant.

“The government was paying a rent of Rs 130 per month till 1987,” said Sharma. “After that, all payment to the Bombay (Mumbai) address of the owner kept getting returned and was deposited in the district education officer’s office.”

But after Rushdie’s lawyers filed the petition in the high court, former deputy commissioner Srikant Badli passed an order transferring the property to Rushdie in 1997.

He visited three years later — but stayed in the house for only one night. The threat to his life was imminent, and his visit was kept under wraps.

“My father had gifted me this cottage on my 21st birthday,” Rushdie told journalist Sunil Sethi in an interview later that year. “And I had taken my son to it just as he is approaching his 21st birthday. It felt like I was completing some promise to my father.”

“It was really deeply moving for me,” he added.

Rushdie came to own Anees Villa in 1969, when his father Anees Ahmed Rushdie, a Cambridge-educated lawyer-turned-businessman, gifted it to him. The Kashmiri Muslim family lived for many years in Bombay (Mumbai), about which Rushdie has written several novels.

The family moved to Pakistan sometime in the mid-1960s, when Rushdie was already in school in England. He also lived in Karachi for a few years. His grandfather Mohammed Uldin bought the house, which was built in 1927 according to official records, in the 1940s.

“We know that the property needs a lot of repairs and restoration work,” said Anirudh Shankardass, son of Rushdie’s late lawyer Vijay T. Shankardass, when contacted over the phone.

“There are plans to put it in order as Anees Villa has a significant historical and emotional appeal,” he added. “Some people are ready to collaborate. But after the attack, it is perhaps not the right time to talk about repairs to the house.”

Spread over 2,000 square meters, the property is surrounded by lush cedars. But it is quickly losing charm. Illegal constructions all around even hide it from view.

“I have no idea why they stopped paying my salary,” said caretaker Govind Ram. “I have also stopped making inquiries.”

He now also runs a tea stall at the Bypass market in Solan.