Professor Bindu Madhok, Associate Professor of Philosophy, Albion College:

"It is an honor for me to introduce Salman Rushdie to you today. For the past few weeks, groups of Albion faculty and students have been meeting in coteries to reflect upon and discuss his short stories, novellas, and novels - what Rushdie might call an array of literary chutneys. His writings have transported us into worlds, very alien to some and very familiar to others.

Like Rushdie, I too was born in India. Like Rushdie, I and others have made our homes in countries not of our birth. To quote Rushdie in "The Courter," "... I, too, have ropes around my neck, I have them to this day, pulling me this way and that, East and West, the nooses tightening, commanding, choose, choose." And like Rushdie, I and others can say "... Ropes, I do not choose between you. ... I choose neither of you, and both. ... I refuse to choose." And that frees us to feel that we have more than one home, that we belong to more than one culture, that we have more than one perspective, and we are the richer for it!

Through Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children, I was transported back to the heart-breaking and riveting stories my parents told me about their crossings of the border during the Partition of India in 1947. But how could they possibly match Rushdie’s humor, his wit, his drama, and pathos in story-telling! I believe Rushdie speaks eloquently not only to their generation but also to my generation and to future generations all over the world about the importance of cherishing diverse cultural, historical, religious, and other heritages without forcing narrow identities on one another, and for this and his other many valuable insights, we are in his debt. Please join me in extending a very warm welcome to Salman Rushdie."