Response to allegations of plagiarism from Selim AL Deen’s manuscript
In 2007, I was almost always with late playwright Selim Al Deen, serving as his personal secretary. One rainy evening in monsoon, as the downpour ceased to allow a twilight stroll for a while, he emerged onto the campus pathway. I was with him too. He used to take walks regularly in the mornings and evenings. But in his presence, I found myself unable to write anything, neither poetry nor prose. It felt as if I had been submerged in an ocean of art. Drowning in that unfamiliar sea, I struggled desperately. Just as a drop loses its existence in the Indus, so did I feel. That day, as we walked, Guru said to me, "Start writing novels, you'll do well. Poetry isn't for you. Leave that."
