Rushdie delights with Akbar Jodha

http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/features/2008/02/25/080225fi_fiction_rushdie/

Old Salman Rushdie may be a spoilt "South Asian" leftie who overdoes the Hindu- Muslim Bhai Bhai, sufi islam peace etc.; but no one can deny his gift of prose.

I specially liked the description of how Fatehpur Sikri was built - it is the same with all other Moghul monuments in India. They were built by breaking the back of the peasantry. All of it,including the Taj, is colonial architecture - built to remind the locals of their subservience.

he is also right on Akbar being a fat, oversexed philanderer and Jodha being a fake - not that it will ever stop Bollywood from inventing, lying and blowing smoke in people's eyes.