MUMBAI: This week on Talk Asia, CNN?s Monita Rajpal sits down with acclaimed author Sir Salman Rushdie in Mumbai to find out about the film release of his internationally renowned book, Midnight?s Children and how for many audiences, events from a 30 year old literary work feel ?completely like a description of today?. The author takes CNN to his childhood home and explains how it became the setting for his Man Booker Prize winning novel. He also discusses his ?very close relationship? with India as a ?Bombay boy?, his views on the recent protests against corruption and gender violence in India and how the people of India are the ?greatest strength? of the country. He opens up about his dark years under the threat of a Fatwa placed on him in response to his controversial work, ?The Satanic Verses? and about the people who rallied to his aid, as he says, ?forming a circle around me of friendship and trust that I can live inside.? Rushdie also shares why he?s cautiously optimistic about the Arab Spring and provides a peek into his future projects in literature and show business.

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